All Life's Journeys
by margravinel
Summary: Sequel to A New Beginning? Or The End? Everyone's secrets are finally out...or are they? An unexpected roadtrip leads to an encounter with an old face, love, lies and more. Basically my version of 4.17
1. Chapter 1

**(Rachel's House Outside: Late Morning)**

Peyton stood on Rachel's doorstep and knocked gently on the front door. Her heart was thumping heavily in her chest as she stood there patiently and waited for Brooke to answer it.

Peyton thought back to what Brooke had told her last night during prom.

"_**I have cancer Peyton." Brooke said quietly. **_

_**Peyton let go of Brooke's hand and removed her hand from the side of Brooke's face. She took a couple of steps back away from Brooke, shock evident in her expression.**_

_**Brooke took a step towards Peyton, reaching out her hand slowly to rub her arm but Peyton put her hands up defensively in front of her stopping Brooke in her tracks.**_

"_**No," she said looking at Brooke. **_

_**Peyton could see tears in Brooke's eyes but she couldn't bring herself to be near her right now. She was finding it hard to breathe and she had to make a conscious effort to inhale to prevent herself from passing out.**_

_**Peyton continued to step back towards the gym.**_

_**Brooke stepped towards her once more.**_

"_**Peyton?" she said anguish in her voice.**_

_**Peyton had tears in her eyes as she moved away from Brooke further. She put her hand up to stop Brooke.**_

"_**Brooke, I'm sorry, I can't do this." She said through tears.**_

_**Brooke closed her eyes and felt the tears coming fast and strong now. She reached up her hand to wipe them away and nodded.**_

_**Peyton took one last look at Brooke before turning around and walking back into the gym, leaving Brooke standing still in the darkness to watch as she left.**_

Peyton shook her head sadly at the memory. She'd felt awful about how she'd reacted to Brooke's admission and had gone to her house to see her. What she'd found when she arrived terrified her.

"_**Brooke?" Peyton called out as she headed towards the door. No one answered her.**_

_**Peyton placed her hand on the door handle and turned it, pushing the door open as she did.**_

_**Once inside the room she spotted Brooke sitting on the floor in between the beds. She ran over to her, kneeling down beside her closely. On the other side of Brooke, Peyton could see an open bottle of vodka. **_

_**Peyton closed her eyes and felt a tear slide down her cheek, When she opened them again she looked at Brooke.**_

_**Brooke looked up at her friend, tears lining her face. Peyton could see the pain behind her eyes and felt herself go numb inside.**_

"_**I'm so scared Peyton." She sobbed.**_

_**Peyton leant forward and pulled Brooke close to her, hugging her tightly. **_

"_**I know," she said stroking the back of Brooke's head gently. "I know."**_

_**Brooke cried in Peyton's arms as she comforted her, tears also running down her face.**_

Peyton had spent all the time after she'd left Brooke last night considering what would have happened if she had not decided to visit her. The possibility that Brooke might not have been here this morning was more than she could stand and thinking about it again now only made those feelings of uneasiness resurface.

Peyton ran her hand through her hair before knocking on the door once more.

Last night Brooke had cried in Peyton's arms for what seemed hours. Peyton had never seen Brooke that way before and it had devastated her, causing her to break down into tears as well.

Throughout their friendship it had always been Brooke who was the strong one. It was Brooke who picked Peyton up and supported her when she needed it. It had been Brooke who always knew exactly what to say to make her feel better when she was upset and pull her through the difficult days. Now the roles were reversed and Peyton doubted that she could be that person for Brooke.

Peyton frowned at the door, which remained closed. She walked up to it further and tried the handle as she had last night. To her surprise the door was still unlocked. Peyton pushed the door open and entered the house.

"Brooke?" she called when she was inside.

The house remained silent.

Peyton was about to start climbing the stairs to check the bedroom when she noticed Brooke asleep on the sofa.

She entered the living room quietly and approached where Brooke was lying, a blanket wrapped loosely around her.

When she reached Brooke, Peyton knelt down in front of her and stroked the side of her face gently with her hand.

Peyton smiled at Brooke as she lay there. Brooke looked so peaceful and content that Peyton had difficulty believing it was the same person she'd spoken to last night.

Peyton studied Brooke's face. She could clearly see the black eye that she'd given Brooke at Nathan's party among the various bruises and the large laceration she'd acquired last night.

After Brooke had stopped crying last night, her and Peyton had sat side by side on the bedroom floor talking together. Brooke had been drunk but she was mostly coherent and Peyton had taken her hand in hers whilst she'd listened to Brooke explain what she could remember about her condition. Eventually Brooke had become quiet and they'd sat together in silence for a while, just the pair of them alone in each other's company.

When Brooke had next spoken it had been to ask that Peyton not tell anyone else about the cancer, for now at least. Brooke wanted some time to come to terms with it herself before she informed anyone else.

Peyton had agreed to these wishes reluctantly, feeling that the others would want to be there for Brooke through this.

Not long afterwards, Peyton had left. She'd not wanted to leave Brooke, but she'd insisted and Peyton had agreed on the condition that she would be around first thing this morning.

On the sofa, Brooke began to stir.

Peyton reached over again and brushed a stray hair out of Brooke's eyes. Brooke seemed to feel this gesture because she slowly opened her eyes and looked at Peyton kneeling beside her.

She smiled sleepily when she saw her.

"Hey." She said drowsily closing her eyes momentarily.

"Hey." Peyton answered softly rubbing Brooke's hand. "How are you feeling?"

"Not too good." Brooke answered honestly. At present she was feeling more than a little nauseous and her head was pounding, whether from the blow to it or the vodka was hard to distinguish.

"Brooke I'm sorry." Peyton said her voice full of emotion.

"What for?" Brooke asked with a puzzled expression on her face.

As far as she could remember Peyton didn't have anything to be sorry about.

Peyton glanced down at the floor before speaking again.

"Last night." She began quietly. "For how I reacted when you told me about…"

Peyton paused briefly and continued to rub Brooke's hand with hers. She looked back up to meet her gaze before continuing.

"You know." She said.

Brooke smiled at Peyton.

"You don't need to apologise for that." Brooke said sincerely.

She was about to continue when Peyton cut her off.

"Yes I do." She said. "I should have said it last night when I came to see you but I guess I was ashamed of how I behaved."

"But why?" Brooke asked, her head still resting on the sofa.

Peyton looked at her and felt tears forming in her eyes. She couldn't believe that Brooke was acting like it wasn't a big deal.

"I was ashamed because I walked away when you needed me the most." She said crying, "and after everything you'd just done for me I couldn't bring myself to be there for you."

Brooke wiped a tear from Peyton's face and smiled at her again.

"You're here now." She said softly.

"What if that had been too late?" Peyton asked her.

Brooke closed her eyes and shook her head slowly.

Peyton watched Brooke carefully for a moment, before placing her hand gently on the side of Brooke's face.

"Brooke?"

Brooke opened her eyes again to look at Peyton.

"I wouldn't have gone that far." Brooke said hesitantly.

The truth was that Brooke didn't know what would have happened if Peyton hadn't arrived when she did. All Brooke was thinking about when she had started drinking the vodka was easing her pain and forgetting her troubles. She didn't want Peyton to worry about that now, but she knew that she'd seen straight through her lie.

"You don't know that." Peyton responded.

Brooke sat up on the sofa and took Peyton's hands in hers.

"Peyton." She began, "I never expected this to be easy for you after what you went through with Ellie. That's why I hid it from you for so long, because I didn't want to see you suffer like you did then."

Brooke paused and saw that Peyton was crying.

"What happened last night was a mistake Peyton. I never wanted to…."

"Kill yourself?" Peyton offered when Brooke didn't continue.

Brooke nodded.

"I would never do that to you." She said wiping another tear from Peyton's cheek.

"Brooke I don't want to lose you." Peyton sobbed. "Not now."

Brooke pulled Peyton into a tight embrace and spoke softly into her ear.

"You won't." she said. "Trust me Peyton. I'm not going anywhere without a fight."

Brooke pulled back a little that she could look at Peyton and then smiled.

"And you know how much I like those." She said winking.

Peyton laughed despite herself. She wiped some tears out of her eyes with her sleeve and saw Brooke watching her.

For a moment neither one of them said anything. Peyton knew that Brooke was trying to make light of the situation to avoid talking about the real issue. It was how she coped.

"Brooke?" Peyton started as she placed her hand on Brookes arm.

"I called the hospital earlier this morning." Brooke interjected looking at the floor. "Made an appointment for lunch time today."

Peyton rubbed Brooke's arm.

"Will you come with me?" Brooke asked looking back up at Peyton. "I know you don't like hospitals but…"

"Of course I'll come." Peyton cut her off whilst pulling her into a hug, "We'll do this together."

"Thank you," Brooke said nodding her head on Peyton's shoulder.

Peyton squeezed Brooke tightly as she spoke.

"You know I've always got your back."


	2. Chapter 2

**(Tree Hill Cemetery)**

Lucas approached Keith's grave slowly. After visiting Dan last night Lucas had tried to contact Mouth, however his phone had been switched off.

Lucas' sleep had been unsettled last night due to the resentment he now felt towards Dan. All he could think about while he lay in bed was how he'd hurt the people that Lucas loved time and time again without retribution.

Not this time though, Lucas thought to himself as he stood looking at the grave in front of him. This time he wasn't going to get away with it. Lucas would make sure of that.

Lucas took a couple of steps nearer and knelt down beside Keith's grave. He draped his arm over the top of the head stone before resting his head gently against the solid stone.

"_**Well, you know I love you."**_

_**"Ok Keith, I know that" Lucas said placing his hand on Keith's arm before continuing. "What's up?"**_

"_**Well, me and your mum talked it over and, well, if it's ok with you, I'd like to adopt you? **_

_**Keith paused a moment trying to read Lucas' expression. When Lucas didn't say anything Keith continued.**_

"_**I want you to be my son."**_

_**Still Lucas said nothing.**_

"_**Will you just sit with it for a while and we'll talk about it later, ok? And remember there is no wrong answer."**_

"_**Ok." Lucas responded as Keith left the kitchen. **_

_**After Keith had left a smile spread across Lucas' face.**_

Thinking back on the memory was painful for Lucas and he felt a tear fall down his cheek. Deep down he'd know exactly how he'd felt about Keith's offer but the shock of his dream finally coming true stunned him and he had been able to respond.

"_**Mom? Keith? Have you got a second?" Lucas asked as he approached them backstage at Tric.**_

"_**Sure" Keith answered.**_

"_**Or should I say mom and dad?" Lucas asked with a huge smile. **_

_**Karen and Keith looked at each other and smiled as Lucas continued.**_

_**  
"I would love to be your son Keith. There's nothing else I'd want more,"**_

Lucas had been so happy that night. Everything he'd wanted was finally falling into place. Brooke and himself were happy together, Keith and his mum were engaged and he was soon to legally be Keith's son.

In the blink of an eye that had all been taken from him. Keith was gone and he and Brooke were no longer together.

Granted Lucas loved Peyton, but he'd also loved Brooke and he knew a part of him would always wonder what would have been if the shooting had not taken place.

Would he still be standing at this very grave, or would his dreams of a family with himself, Keith and his mum have finally been realised.

If the shooting hadn't happened, would he even be with Peyton now. If she hadn't been shot, they never would have shared that kiss in the library and him and Brooke would never have broken up.

Or would they?

Lucas shook his head slowly. Why was he even thinking about what could have been? There was no point in it. Recently everything had been going so well again. Nathan and Haley were happy and expecting their first child. His mum was pregnant with Keith's child, his younger sister or brother. Skills received a scholarship to attend college and Brooke was happy with Chase.

And he was happy, more than happy with Peyton. Throughout everything they had always been there for each other.

He remembered how he'd felt last night when she'd told him about Derek and suddenly all those feelings came flooding back to him.

Lucas banged his head lightly against the head stone before standing up slowly. He cursed Dan for making him question everything, for turning his life upside down yet again.

In the course of twenty-four hours everything had changed, one revelation followed by another. Lucas continued to look down at the grave remembering what he had last night.

"_**I still don't believe that Jimmy killed you Keith."**_

"_**Well then, why do you? Jimmy Edwards was your friend Luke. You knew him. You were kind to him. After everything you've seen, don't you think that kindness had an impact?"**_

"_**Well if it did then you would still be alive."**_

"_**Do you really believe that Luke? Look into your heart, ok? It may be flawed physically but it's a good one and it's what makes you, you. Luke you've changed other people's lives by opening it up. Don't close that off. Luke just look around this hallway, you were here that day. What did you see?"**_

"_**I didn't see anything"**_

"_**Open your eyes Luke."**_

Why hadn't he been able to see it before? It wasn't necessarily what he seen the day of the shooting but what he'd seen following it. Since Keith's death, Dan had changed. He'd been spending more time around his mum and himself, trying to make himself a more active part of their lives.

But why? Was he getting some kind of satisfaction from picking up the pieces that Keith had left behind? Or was he doing it out of guilt?

Just then Lucas heard a noise behind him as someone approached the grave and his thoughts were suddenly lost.

He turned around slowly and looked into the face of the person who was standing there.


	3. Chapter 3

**(Tree Hill Cemetery)**

"Lucas?" the person said quietly.

"Hey mum." Lucas answered, stepping forward and embracing his mother warmly.

Karen hugged her son in return, speaking as they parted.

"I wasn't expecting to see you here." She said, "I thought you'd be with Peyton this morning."

"She was worried about Brooke after what happened last night," Lucas informed her, "so she's gone round to check on her."

Karen nodded.

Last night Karen had noticed Brooke and Peyton arrive at prom, the pair of them covered in bruises and their dresses torn, but she'd not had the chance to talk to either of them about it.

This morning when she had woken up she'd found Lucas sitting alone at the kitchen table, Peyton still asleep in his room. Together they had sat and eaten breakfast, Lucas notifying her of everything that had happened to both Peyton and Brooke at the hands of Derek.

When Peyton had returned from Brooke's house last night, she'd seemed exhausted both physically and emotionally, and so Lucas had not planned on discussing Derek until the morning.

However, they had both lay there and struggled to sleep. Each one's mind occupied by two completely different problems, Lucas' with the revelation about Dan's involvement in Keith's death and Peyton's with the knowledge of Brooke's condition.

After about twenty minutes of silence, Peyton had finally broken the silence, asking Lucas if he too was awake. When he responded, they decided to talk about what had happened at her house that evening. Peyton had discussed Derek briefly with Lucas at the prom however, the majority of the details had been left out and he had a number of questions he needed answering.

Lucas had sat and listened as Peyton recalled all the events that had taken place that night, from the moment Brooke had arrived at her house, until they had appeared at prom together.

When Peyton had finished, Lucas felt that there was something more she wanted to share with him, something that she was holding back. He'd waited patiently for her to continue, but she hadn't done.

He'd been speechless after hearing what had occurred, realising just how close he'd been to losing Peyton and feeling guilty about how he'd not been there for her.

Shortly after Peyton had fallen asleep, leaving Lucas alone with his thoughts of Keith and how he'd been taken from him. How Dan had taken Keith from him. From his mum and Keith's unborn child.

Finally, Lucas had fallen asleep, but it' had been restless and he'd woken early.

Not long after finishing breakfast with Lucas, Karen had gone to open up the café for the day and Lucas had waited for Peyton to rise.

Lucas watched his mother as she gazed at Keith's grave in front of her.

She tore her eyes away for a moment to look at Lucas and asked.

"How was Peyton?" she asked him, concern evident in her voice.

Lucas smiled at his mum before answering.

"She's ok," he said, "In fact, I think she's more worried about Brooke than anything."

Karen smiled too.

"It's nice to that they're friends again." She said sincerely.

At this Lucas looked down at his feet, suddenly feeling guilty for the role he'd played in the break up of their friendship.

Lucas cleared his throat to try and shift the uncomfortable feeling that had come over him.

"So, what are you doing here?" he asked her, trying to change the subject. "I thought you were at the café."

"Haley's watching things for me at the café so I thought I'd take the opportunity to come here." She said.

Lucas watched his mum as she gazed down at Keith's grave.

"I come down here from time to time to talk to Keith," she said happily. "To let Keith know that we miss him and that we're always thinking of him and to tell him how we're all getting on."

She rubbed her stomach gently and smiled, "and to let him know how this little one is doing."

Lucas smiled at her.

"I know Keith would have made a great father." Lucas said, emotion in his voice, " because he was the best one to me."

Karen looked up at him, tears in her eyes.

"Nothing would have made him happier than to hear you say that." She said sadly, rubbing her stomach again softly, "I just wish that this little one got to see what a wonderful man he was."

"They will," Lucas said beaming, "because they'll have their big brother to remind them everyday."

Karen pulled him into another embrace.

"I'm so proud of you." Karen said into his ear, "and I know Keith would be too."

"Thanks mum," Lucas said hugging her warmly.

Karen released him slowly and gently wiped the tears out of her eyes.

She smiled at him.

"So what are you doing here?" she asked changing the topic, as she placed both hands on his arms.

"I just came down here to clear my head, that's all." He answered looking back at her.

Karen watched his eyes closely as he stood before her. She knew her son, and could tell when there was something troubling him.

"Is there something on your mind?" she asked worriedly, "something you need to talk about?"

For a moment Lucas considered telling her what he'd discovered last night about Dan and his involvement in Keith's death. Since he'd found out about it, Lucas had felt that he was suffocating, as though he was carrying a huge weight on his chest.

"Mum…" he began.

Before he could continue, a voice call out from the same direction that his mum had appeared.

"Karen?"

Suddenly Dan appeared carrying a bouquet of flowers in his hands. At the sight of Lucas, Dan paused momentarily before approaching Karen and continuing.

"You left these in the car." He said avoiding the hard stare he knew Lucas was giving him.

"Thanks," Karen said smiling as she took the flowers from him.

Dan nodded and looked towards Lucas.

"Morning Lucas," he said matter of factly.

Lucas ignored him and instead continued to stare at him coldly.

Karen looked at her son with concern.

"Lucas are you alright?" she asked him.

Lucas looked back at her quickly and smiled.

"Uh. Yeah. I just, I forgot that I was supposed to be meeting somebody." He answered as he kissed her on the cheek and started to turn away.

"What about what you were saying?" she asked him.

Lucas turned to face look at her and then glanced threateningly at Dan.

"I can tell you about it later." He said, "Bye mum."

"Bye." Karen said after him, confusion on her face.

Dan watched fearfully as Lucas disappeared out of sight. Dan had managed to keep his role in Keith's death a secret for so long now. Finally, he and Karen were getting on well, and no one, not even Lucas was going to jeopardise that relationship or his freedom. He'd make sure of that.


	4. Chapter 4

**(The Beach)**

Peyton and Brooke walked slowly together along the beach, Brooke with bare feet, her shoes resting in the hand at her side.

Neither one of them spoke, both occupied with the troubled thoughts currently running through their minds.

After a moment, the pair of them stopped and sat down on the warm sand side by side. Brooke looked at Peyton who was gazing out at the ocean before them and frowned to herself.

Since they'd left the house earlier, Peyton had become quiet and Brooke was beginning to worry about her friend. She probably knew her better than anyone and she'd understood why Peyton kept her feelings to herself to the point of self-destructing. She did it to protect herself, to prevent people from getting close to her in order to avoid letting them hurt her.

Brooke didn't understand it now.

They had been through so much together and somehow they'd managed to make it out the other side still friends. Brooke felt like she could tell Peyton anything now, but it hurt her to think that Peyton didn't feel the same way.

Brooke stared out at the water in front of her and began tapping her feet gently on the sand, fidgeting with her hands as she did so.

At Brooke's movement, Peyton turned towards her friend. She watched Brooke closely as she played with her hands nervously as she had done last night. Peyton knew that Brooke was anxious about later, in truth so was she, but as much as she tried, she just couldn't think of anything to say that would make Brooke feel better.

Slowly Peyton reached out and grabbed Brooke's hands up in her own to steady them. Brooke looked towards Peyton who continued to watch her closely.

Still no one spoke.

Brooke turned her head to look away in the opposite direction for a moment. After another minute of silence she quickly turned back to Peyton and spoke.

"Ok, you have to say something." She said anxiously, "because you haven't said anything since we got out of the car and to be honest it's starting to freak me out a little bit."

"What do you want me to say?" Peyton asked her surprised by Brooke's sudden outburst.

"I don't know," she started, "something, anything."

Peyton looked out at the waves breaking for a moment before turning back to Brooke.

"Ok." She said pausing briefly to think.

Brooke watched her. She was still tapping her feet on the ground restlessly. The truth was that the nearer it got to her appointment, the more she wished that she could sweep everything back under the rug and pretend it didn't exist. Her insides were churning violently and Peyton's suddenly becoming a mute was not helping her.

Peyton met Brooke's gaze and shifted her position slightly so that they were facing each other. Her hands still placed over Brooke's to calm them.

"You remember the day of my mum's funeral?" she asked softly.

Brooke looked confused but nodded.

"That day I tried to find her," Peyton sighed, "tried to sense her if you like. I guess I thought that she would be watching, making sure that everyone was ok."

For a moment Peyton paused and glanced back out at the waves. When she looked back at Brooke she continued.

"But I couldn't. There wasn't anything, no rush of warm air, no tingle at the back of my neck, just nothing. It's like all those times when we acted out the parts in chorus line. We used to fight over who got to be the girl who felt nothing, you remember?"

Brooke smiled sadly.

"Yeah I remember," she said in a barely audible voice.

"Well, at my mum's funeral I felt like I really was that girl. I was the girl that felt nothing, no worse than nothing. It was like a vacuum. I could feel where she was missing and that she was really gone."

Peyton watched Brooke closely. She could tell that Brooke didn't fully understand what she was saying so she continued.

"So, I went home, and I shut the door and climbed into bed. I don't really remember it but at some point you came over and just climbed into bed with me."

Peyton smiled at the memory.

"You put your arm around me the way my mum used to do when I'd climb into her bed after a bad dream. Do you remember what you said to me then?" Peyton asked.

Brooke shook her head.

"You told me that we would have to be friends forever because I'd always need someone around to remind me how great my mum was."

Peyton laughed.

"You told me that I could close my door, turn off the light and pull the covers over my head. That I could try and escape as much as I wanted, but that you would always come after me because you owed at least that much to my mum."

Brooke looked back out towards the ocean and Peyton saw a tear slip down her cheek.

"I felt her you know." Peyton said, "In that moment I felt like my mum was there. That she was with us in the room, you know, making sure that we were all ok."

Peyton rubbed Brooke's arm gently.

"I never told you that before." She said sadly.

For a moment Brooke didn't say anything and Peyton just sat there watching her.

"I can't believe you remember that." Brooke said as she turned back to face her. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

Peyton smiled.

"I don't know." She answered honestly.

Brooke laughed.

"Of all the things you could have said that's what you choose to share with me."

Peyton smiled at Brooke and placed both her hands on her shoulders.

"Well," she said, "you told me I could say anything." Peyton winked at her, both her hands remained on Brooke's shoulders.

Brooke nodded.

"Brooke, you've always been the silver lining one in this friendship." Peyton started, "you're the one who knows exactly what to say to make me feel better and how to comfort me when I need it. I feel like I'm struggling to be that person for you, that you deserve someone better."

"Peyton…" Brooke began.

Peyton put her hand up a moment to stop Brooke from continuing.

"I always remember that night because I think it was when I first realised that you would always look out for me and that I wasn't alone like I thought I was."

Peyton paused a moment and took Brooke's hands in hers again.

"I guess what I'm trying to say," she said, "in a long winded sort of way is that I'm not always going to know the right thing to say or do to reassure you that things are going to be ok. There will be times that are hard, for both of us, and sometimes you'll feel like you want to shut yourself away and hide under your covers, pretend that everything is alright for a while."

Brooke wiped a tear off her cheek.

"But I'll come after you because I at least owe you that much. Sometimes I might be quiet, but if you need me to talk to you and tell you stupid stories then I will, and maybe it'll make you feel better like you made me feel."

Brooke smiled at Peyton and nodded. Suddenly she laughed.

"I think your better at this than you think." Brooke said quietly.

Peyton smiled in return and pulled Brooke into a warm embrace.

"Are you ready?" she asked her.

"Yeah," Brooke answered, "I think I am."


	5. Chapter 5

**(Karen's Café)**

Nathan sat at the counter at Karen's café flicking through the pages of a baby names book in front of him whilst Haley was busy cleaning the counter.

The café was relatively empty with only a few customers sitting around at the nearby tables.

"What about Jordan?" Nathan asked, as he looked up at his wife his finger resting below the name written on the page in front of him.

Haley was busy wiping the counter top, but he laughed when he saw the disapproving look on her face. They had already agreed earlier that under no circumstances were they naming their child after a basketball player.

"Jordan? Like Michael Jordan? I don't think so." She said as she continued working.

"No?" he asked jokingly, "Really?"

"Really," she said as she rinsed the cloth in the sink. "Besides I thought you already agreed that we were not naming our child after a NBA player."

"Yeah, but surely a last name doesn't count." He said smiling.

Haley was about to say something when she looked up and saw the huge grin on Nathan's face. Realising that he was teasing her she pulled the tea towel off her shoulder and threw it at him playfully.

"Nathan come on, this is serious." She said, pausing to lean on the counter in front of him. "We don't have that long until the baby comes and we still haven't decided on a name for him."

"Well, there are over a thousand names in here." Nathan said holding up the book. "It can't be that hard to pick one?"

Nathan placed the book back on the table and flicked forward another couple of pages.

"I know, why don't I pick a random page in the book and then you can close your eyes and point to a name on the page?" Nathan suggested, " Whatever name you point to, that's what we'll call him."

Haley didn't look convinced.

"You want to leave this up to random chance?" she asked him.

"Sure, why not?" he answered, "I mean, what's the worst that could happen?"

Haley ran her fingers through her hair and sighed.

"Fine." She said as she closed her eyes.

Nathan closed his eyes and flicked through the pages of the book quickly. After a moment he stopped and opened the book in front of Haley.

He opened his eyes.

"Ok." He said, notifying Haley that the book was in position for her.

Haley placed her finger down firmly on the page in front of her and Nathan looked at the name beneath it.

Haley opened her eyes and looked at the name. When she read it she made a face and glanced at Nathan.

"Best of three?" she asked.

Nathan met her gaze and she saw a similar expression on his face.

"Definitely."

Just as they were about to try again, Haley saw Lucas enter the café through the front door.

Nathan turned to follow her gaze and smiled.

"Hey Luke." He said as he saw him approach.

"Hey Nate." Lucas responded as he reached the counter, "Hales."

Lucas noticed the book in front of Nathan.

"What's this?" he asked as he picked it up and read the cover. "Baby names huh?" he said as he placed it back on the counter.

Lucas turned to face Haley.

"Have you considered calling him Lucas?" he asked smiling. "Apparently that's what all the cool kids are called nowadays."

Haley hit him playfully on the arm and Lucas pretended to be injured.

"Ouch!" What was that for?" he asked.

"You're not helping." She said lightly.

"You know I kind of like it," Nathan said sarcastically.

"Plus you're encouraging him." She continued nodding towards Nathan.

As that moment some customers entered the café and sat at a table and Haley left Nathan and Lucas to serve them.

Nathan smiled after her as Lucas took his cell phone out of his pocket and dialled Peyton's number whilst walking around behind the counter.

On the fifth ring Peyton picked up.

"Hey." He heard her say down the phone.

"Hey," Lucas answered, "I was just wondering how everything was going with Brooke. Is she ok?"

For a moment Peyton hesitated and did not answer him, her mind seemingly elsewhere.

"Peyton?" Lucas asked.

"Uh, yeah sorry, she's fine. Just a bit bruised that's all."

Lucas thought he could a hint of uncertainty in Peyton's voice as she said this.

"You sure? Only you don't seem too convinced." he asked. "I mean you were pretty worried about her last night."

"Yeah of course," she replied, "Brooke's fine."

Lucas looked puzzled as he listened to Peyton on the phone. He couldn't explain it but he felt as though she was hiding something from him.

"Well," he said, "if you're sure."

Peyton caught the note of concern in Lucas' voice and knew he was suspicious.

"I'm positive," she said trying to sound believable.

Peyton hated lying to Lucas, but she'd promised Brooke to keep news of her cancer a secret until she was ready to share it with the others.

"Ok." Lucas said, "Well, I'm at the café with Nate and Hales if you two want to meet up."

"Yeah ok," Peyton answered, "Give us half an hour for Brooke to finish getting ready and we'll meet you there."

"Sure," he said, "see you then."

With that Lucas hang up the phone and looked at it questioningly before returning it to his pocket. He knew Peyton was hiding something from him, he could feel it, but he couldn't for the life of him think what it could be. He'd find out though, after everything that had happened with Dan last night, he didn't want any more secrets.

**(Tree Hill Hospital)**

Peyton had gone outside to answer Lucas' call and after hanging up she returned to the waiting area where Brooke was sitting nervously.

As she approached Brooke, Peyton returned her phone to her pocket. She saw that Brooke was once again fidgeting nervously with her hands and looking down at the floor.

Peyton sat down in the chair beside Brooke and took her left hand in hers routinely. Brooke looked up at her and was about to speak when a voice in front of her spoke.

"Brooke Davis?"

Brooke looked up at the doctor standing before her.

"Yeah," she said quietly.

"Sorry for the wait," she apologised, "why don't you come on through?"

At this the doctor stepped closer towards her door and pointed her arm in the direction of the examination room, gesturing for Brooke to enter.

Brooke hesitated and looked worriedly at Peyton who squeezed her hand tightly and smiled.

"I'm right behind you." Peyton said.

Brooke looked down at the floor briefly before standing up and walking into the room, Peyton following closely behind her.

When they were both inside, the doctor entered after them and closed the door.


	6. Chapter 6

**(Tree Hill Hospital)**

Once inside the room, Brooke and Peyton sat down in the two chairs positioned in front of a large metal desk. Brooke sat on her hands in attempt to keep them still and Peyton looked at her friend nervously.

Since her mother's death, Peyton had come to fear hospitals and the only thing preventing her from standing up and leaving right now was the fact that her best friend needed her there.

Every time Peyton entered a hospital she was instantly reminded of all the pain that she had suffered at the loss of her mom and how on every visit since then she'd been close to losing someone she cares about, Lucas, Nathan, Haley, and now possibly Brooke.

Just then the sound of the doctors voice interrupted Peyton's thoughts. She had entered the room behind Brooke and Peyton and was now sitting behind the large desk facing the girls, her hands resting on the surface in front of her.

"You're a difficult patient to track down, Miss Davis." She said matter of factly. "I've been trying to contact you for the last couple of months, I was actually surprised when you called me this morning."

Brooke didn't meet the doctors' gaze, instead continuing to look at the floor in front of her.

"Yeah, I'm sorry," Brooke begun, "I guess I was…"

"Scared." The doctor finished for her.

Brooke looked up at the doctor and nodded.

The doctor leaned forward slightly on the desk and smiled understandingly at Brooke.

"Brooke, I understand how you must have felt after your last visit, to be honest I'd be worried if you weren't anxious about it." The doctor said kindly. "What's important is that you're here now and we can discuss the options available to you."

Brooke glanced at Peyton quickly before looking back towards her doctor.

"Ok." Brooke said quietly.

The doctor watched Brooke sympathetically before turning her attention towards Peyton.

Brooke followed her gaze and spoke.

"I took your advice and told someone." She said as if to answer her unasked question. "This is my friend Peyton."

The doctor leaned over the desk to shake Peyton's hand.

"Peyton?" she asked, "Nice to meet you. I'm Brooke's oncologist Dr. Connelly."

Peyton shook the doctors hand.

"Hi." She said back uneasily.

When they had shaken hands, the doctor sat back in her chair and opened a file, which was lying on the desk in front of her.

For a moment, no one said anything as Dr Connelly read through the notes she had taken on Brooke's last visit.

"Ok," she said under her breath as she closed the file and looked at Brooke, "why don't I start by reiterating what we discussed at your last appointment and then we can go on from there? How does that sound?"

Brooke looked worriedly at the doctor and nodded.

"Ok," she said quietly.

Dr Connelly glanced at Peyton briefly before looking back towards Brooke and meeting her gaze.

"At your last appointment, we conducted a number of tests, including an ultrasound and blood tests. The results of these along with the symptoms which you described to me suggested that you have a form of ovarian cancer."

Peyton looked towards Brooke who avoided her gaze and continued to look at the doctor sitting in front of her. She shifted her weight slightly, removing her hands from under her legs and rubbing them gently.

"Now there are a number of different types of ovarian cancer, however, it's often difficult to differentiate between them from the results of these tests alone. The most common form found in younger women around your age is what we call germ cell tumours."

The doctor paused momentarily before continuing.

"These are tumours which develop from the cells in your ovaries that produce the eggs."

"Can it be treated?" Brooke asked playing with her hands again.

Peyton looked at Brooke as she spoke and noticed her squirming nervously. She reached out her hand and placed it on Brooke's arm supportively causing her to turn and face Peyton.

Brooke smiled sadly at her in appreciation and Peyton reached down and grabbed her hand squeezing it tightly. Brooke placed her hand on top of Peyton's as Dr Connelly continued.

"Most forms of this type of tumour tend to be benign, however, in your case the tumour was malignant. If treated early, around ninety percent of cases survive past five years."

"What if it isn't treated early?" Brooke asked worriedly.

The doctor looked sympathetically at Brooke.

"With any type of cancer, survival rates are directly related to time of intervention. The later the treatment the lower the survival rates."

Brooke looked down at the floor in front of her whilst Peyton and Dr. Connelly watched her closely. Brooke looked back up and met her gaze when the doctor continued.

"Brooke," she said softly, seemingly understanding what Brooke had really been asking. "I can't tell you whether the last couple of months will affect your prognosis, I'm sorry."

Brooke nodded sadly.

"There a four main stages of ovarian cancer," Dr Connelly said. "Stage one being the earliest and associated with a good response to treatment. Stage four being the latest and most difficult to treat, often involving other organs and metastases in other areas of the body."

Dr Connelly paused momentarily.

"At your last appointment, you were classified as what we call a stage two A. This stage describes patients with a tumour in one or both ovaries with some spread of cancer into the uterus or fallopian tubes. In your case, there is a tumour on your right ovary which extends down into your right fallopian tube."

"Umm…so what happens now?" Brooke asked.

Peyton was watching her friend closely, her heart aching in her chest and nerves consuming her whole body.

The doctor reached into her desk draw and took out a leaflet, which she handed to Brooke.

"I need to book you in to have surgery as soon as possible to remove the cancerous growth from your ovary. Now, as with any surgery there are risks involved, and depending on the spread of the cancer and size of the tumour we may be required to remove both the ovary and fallopian tube."

"What about kids?" Brooke asked.

If she was honest she didn't know why the question suddenly came into her head. The last thought on her mind right now was starting a family, but the sudden fear that she may not be able to caught her off guard.

"As long as the cancer has not spread to the uterus, there is every chance that you will still be able to conceive a child in the future." Dr Connelly said. "But, you should know that following surgery we often provide a course of chemotherapy to destroy any cancerous cells which may remain and sometimes this can lead to infertility."

"But you don't know?" Brooke asked.

"No, unfortunately I can't provide you with a definite answer to that question at present." Dr Connelly answered.

"How long will I have to be in hospital after the surgery?" Brooke questioned.

"Anywhere between three days and a week, depending on how well you feel." She answered. "Complete recovery from the surgery normally takes four to six weeks."

Brooke bit her bottom lip anxiously.

"When would I have to have it?" Brooke said as she ran a hand through her hair.

"I could book you in for early next week." Dr Connelly replied, "The sooner, the better."

Brooke looked at Peyton and closed her eyes as she began to nod slowly.

"Ok," she said quietly, "Next week…"

Brooke sighed heavily and opened her eyes. She saw a tear run down Peyton's cheek and had to close her eyes again to stop herself from crying.

"Let's do it." She said hesitantly.


	7. Chapter 7

**(Karen's Café: Outside)**

Dan pulled his car up at the sidewalk outside Karen's café and turned the key in the ignition, slowly shutting the engine off.

Karen unbuckled her safety belt and opened the door before stepping out of the car. Once standing on the sidewalk, she waited for Dan to exit the car and walk around to her side.

"Are you going to come in for some coffee?" she asked him when Dan reached her, his car keys in his hands.

Dan looked towards the café and through the window made out Lucas standing behind the counter talking with Nathan and Haley. He turned his gaze back to Karen before answering.

"Thanks for the offer," he said pausing briefly. "but there's some things that I need to take care of."

Karen nodded understandingly.

"Ok," she answered, "but the offer still stands when you've finished."

Karen paused momentarily, debating whether or not to ask her next question.

"Maybe I could even extend it to dinner tonight?" she asked him hesitantly.

Dan looked at her questioningly.

"As a thank you." She said quickly, reading his expression.

"A thank you?" Dan asked her. "For what?"

"For last night" Karen answered, "and this morning. I appreciate you coming to the cemetery with me. I've really valued your support recently and I just want to thank you properly for that."

Dan smiled at her and looked down towards his feet.

"Well, it's the least I can do." He said, "I just wish that I could bring Keith back for you."

Dan nodded towards Karen's belly, "For both of you."

Karen smiled sadly at this and placed her hand on Dan's arm.

"So you'll come?" Karen asked him.

"I'd love to." Dan said smiling, "thank you."

"Ok," Karen answered as she turned and began to make her way back to the café.

Karen opened the door and turned around to face Dan again.

"See you about eight?" she asked.

Behind Karen, Dan could see Lucas watching him closely. Dan smiled arrogantly before answering Karen.

"Sure," he said maintaining eye contact with Lucas for a moment. When he looked back at Karen he smiled.

"Eight it is."

Karen was smiling as she nodded and then disappeared into the café.

Dan watched as she greeted Lucas affectionately and disappeared out the back. When she'd gone Lucas returned his gaze to Dan, anger clearly showing in his expression.

Dan shook his head and laughed so that Lucas could see before averting his gaze and looking up the street.

He was just about to return to his car when out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of the boy from last night walking in the opposite direction along the street.

Dan locked his car using the switch attached to his key chain and began making his way towards the boy.

As he neared him, Dan could see that he was wearing earphones, the music loud so that Dan could just about make out the lyrics.

Dan slowed just behind the boy and carefully looked around the street to ensure that no one was watching. The streets around were relatively quiet, only a women attending to her kids nearby.

As the boy passed an alley, Dan grabbed him by the back of the shirt and pulled him into it, slamming him hard against the wall and covering his mouth with his hand so that the boy was unable to call out for help.

Mouth struggled to free himself from Dan's grasp but his grip was strong and unrelenting.

Dan ripped the earphones from Mouth's ears and leant in so that his head was alongside Mouth's.

"I thought I warned you last night what would happened if you tried to play games with me?" Dan spat quietly into Mouth's ear.

Dan paused a moment before continuing.

"You'll pay for telling Lucas, I'll make sure of that. When I'm through with you," Dan said threateningly, "you'll be begging for me to kill you."

Dan slammed Mouth hard against the wall to illustrate his point.

"No one messes with Dan Scott, do you understand that? No one."

Dan met Mouth's gaze and saw the fear in his eyes. His body was trembling fiercely and his breaths coming hard and fast.

Registering this Dan smiled to himself, knowing that the boy wouldn't say anything now he knew that Dan was serious about carrying out his threat. Without him the girl wouldn't talk, now all Dan needed to do was deal with Lucas.

Dan slammed Mouth hard against the wall again so that he could hear the thud as it made contact. Mouth closed his eyes with pain and Dan could vaguely make out the sound of his groans stifled by his hand.

"This is your final warning boy," Dan hissed at him, "Stay out of my way, or the next time anyone sees you it will be when they pull your body out of the river. Do you understand me?"

Mouth nodded in panic and Dan threw him harshly to the floor further into the alley before turning and walking away.

Mouth watched as he disappeared out of sight and hung his head. He stayed like this for a moment, thinking about what Dan had said to him before hitting the wall in frustration with his fist.

The sound of a bus pulling up to a stop opposite the alley caught Mouth's attention, causing him to look up.

Mouth watched from his position on the floor as people boarded, thinking to himself.

He needed to get out of here for a while and set his mind straight. There was so much he needed to figure out. What was he going to do now? He didn't want to let Dan get away with this but he was a dangerous man to cross. How did Lucas know? And what was he going to say when he saw him?

Quickly Mouth stood up, resolute in his decision. He needed to leave Tree Hill and let Dan believe that he'd won for now. But this wasn't over, far from it.

Mouth ran out of the alley towards the bus. When he reached it he looked up and read it's destination.

Honeygrove.

Perfect, he thought to himself. Mouth boarded the bus and made his way to the back, taking a seat near the window. Eventually the bus pulled away from the sidewalk and began moving forward as Mouth looked back at the place he would be leaving behind.


	8. Chapter 8

**(Karen's Café) **

Karen re-emerged from out the back of the café to see Lucas sitting with Nathan at a table near the window.

Haley had just returned to the counter from tending to a now vacated table and Karen approached her placing a hand affectionately on her back.

"Thanks for watching the café for me, Haley." Karen said appreciatively.

"It's no trouble." Haley answered her. "To be honest it gives me something to do now that I've lost my job at the tutoring centre."

"Oh, Haley." Karen said sympathetically, "I'm sorry, I know that you loved that job. What happened?"

"Rachel," Haley sighed. "She used me so that she should take my key to the test cabinet and steal some exam papers."

Haley paused for a moment to calm herself, feeling the same anger that she'd initially felt on discovering Rachel's betrayal rising up within her.

"To be honest, I'm more disappointed with myself than I am with her." Haley continued after a moment.

Karen looked at Haley with confusion on her face.

"What do you mean?" she asked puzzled. "Haley, you were only trying to help her. You didn't do anything wrong."

"No," Haley said, dropping her shoulders and wiping some spilt water from the counter in front of her, "but I was against tutoring her at first because I didn't trust her. I mean deep down I kind of expected something like this from her but Brooke convinced me to give her a chance."

Haley stopped for a moment and turned to face Karen.

"You know, I trust Brooke and she genuinely believed that Rachel was serious about wanting help."

Haley laughed suddenly

"I guess she fooled us both." Haley closed her eyes and placed her hand on her forehead.

She sighed again heavily and shook her head slowly.

"If I had just followed my gut instincts none of this would have happened."

"Haley, you are a kind and trusting person. Unfortunately there are some people in the world that will take advantage of that." Karen said smiling as she reached up and placed her hand on Haley's shoulder. "But this is not your fault. You only did what you thought was right and don't let anyone make you feel guilty about that."

Haley smiled at Karen.

"Thanks Karen." She said quietly.

Karen nodded over towards the table where Lucas and Nathan were sitting.

"Why don't you go and have a seat and I'll bring you guys something to eat?" she said.

"Are you sure? " Haley asked, "You don't want me to stay and help?"

Karen took the tea towel off Haley's shoulder and threw it over her own.

"The lunch time rush is basically over," Karen replied, "I think I'll be ok."

"Well if you're sure?" Haley said hesitantly.

"Positive," she said smiling, "You're officially off duty."

"Ok, well I'm not going to argue with that." Haley said untying her apron and walking over to sit with the others.

Karen tied her own apron around her waist as she watched Haley join the boys before turning and heading out the back.

**(Karen's Café: Outside) **

Peyton parked Brooke's car at the sidewalk just outside Karen's café and shut off the engine slowly before turning to face Brooke who was staring out the window across the street.

Peyton looked down into her lap for a moment. Since they had left the hospital Brooke had barely said a word and Peyton wasn't sure that bringing her to meet the others was such a good idea, especially if Brooke was serious about keeping news of her condition from them.

Slowly she looked back up at Brooke whose head was resting on her hand in the window.

"If you want I can take you home?" Peyton asked her, "I mean if you don't want to face everyone right now."

Peyton may as well have said nothing for all the reaction that she got from Brooke, who remained silently staring out her passenger window.

"Brooke?" Peyton asked concerned.

When Brooke still failed to acknowledge that Peyton was sitting beside her, yet alone talking to her, Peyton reached forward and placed her hand on Brooke's shoulder gently.

"Brooke," she said again, her voice louder than it had been the first time.

The sudden sensation of Peyton's touched surprised Brooke, causing her to jump in her seat, her hand shooting up to her chest quickly.

"Peyton," she said trying to catch her breath and stop her heart from pounding in her chest. "You scared the hell out of me."

"I'm sorry," she said touching Brooke's arm sincerely. "But we're here."

Brooke looked out of Peyton's window to see Karen's café alongside them.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" Peyton asked, "I can take you home if not."

"No," Brooke said defiantly.

She swallowed hard and nodded her head quickly as though trying to convince herself that she was in fact ready to face everyone.

"I'm fine," Brooke, said lightly as she swiftly undid her safety belt and exited the car.

"Brooke!" Peyton called after her in shock at her sudden exit and struggling to unbuckle herself. Peyton knew that Brooke didn't want to talk about what had just happened, and that was ok with Peyton, but the thought of Brooke pretending everything was ok just didn't sit well with her for some reason.

By the time Peyton was out of the car, Brooke was already inside the café and sitting at a table with Nathan, Haley and Lucas.

Peyton entered quickly after her, and the others turned to face her as she approached them, Lucas getting to his feet.

"Hey," he said as he kissed her and pulled her into an embrace.

"Hey," she answered kissing him back lovingly.

When he released her, Lucas took her hand in his and led her to the chair next to him.

"Are you alright?" Haley asked laughing as she watched Peyton take the seat next to her.

"Yeah, Peyton." Brooke asked with a huge grin on her face. "You're looking a little flustered."

Peyton watched Brooke closely before answering. To anyone else that was looking at her, Brooke would seem perfectly normal, and it scared Peyton that she could be so good at acting as though nothing was troubling her. It made Peyton questioned how many other times Brooke had done this in their friendship and it hurt Peyton to think that maybe she didn't know her friend as well as she'd thought.

"I'm fine," Peyton, said laughing, "ignoring the fact that I almost got stuck in your car."

"What?" Lucas, Peyton's hand still in his.

Peyton looked back at Brooke.

"Your safety belt wouldn't budge," she said never removing her eyes from Brooke. "I thought I was going to be trapped in that thing with your dodgy CD collection."

"Hey!," Brooke said acting hurt by Peyton's comment and leaning across the table to hit her playfully on the arm.

"You sure that's it?" Lucas asked watching Peyton closely. For some reason he just couldn't shake the feeling that Peyton was hiding something from him, ever since she'd returned from Brooke's last night.

Peyton looked at him and planted a smile of her face before kissing him quickly on the lips.

"Yeah of course." She said trying to relax. Brooke may be a master at convincing people nothing was wrong but Peyton was having difficulty.

"Anyway..." Haley started, "changing the subject from your questionable taste in music," she said to Brooke smiling, "What the hell happened to you two last night? You kind of reminded me of that scene from 'Carrie' when you turned up at prom together yesterday."

"R-i-g-h-t," Brooke said drawing out the word slowly as she remembered her conversation with Haley last night, "I said I'd tell you all about it, didn't I?"

Haley nodded.

Brooke looked towards Peyton to make sure that she was happy for her to discuss it. When she saw no sign of protest from her, Brooke began recalling what she could remember from the events of last night, and their encounter with Derek, Peyton filling in the gaps.

Karen had brought some food over as they discussed the previous evening and the five of them sat together, as they hadn't done for a long time, just talking and joking.

Peyton watched Brooke closely throughout the conversation. It was difficult for her to imagine that this could be the same broken girl that she'd found on her bedroom floor only hours ago. From the outside she appeared the same, energetic girl that she always was and if Brooke hadn't told her about the cancer, Peyton wouldn't have known anything was wrong.

But she could see it in her eyes now, all the pain and fear she was feeling, broadcast to anyone who took the opportunity to look at them close enough. Brooke may be able to hide it on the outside, but she couldn't hide it on the inside. Not really.


	9. Chapter 9

**(Honeygrove) **

The bus slowly pulled into Honeygrove bus terminal and came to a halt alongside the sidewalk outside. Mouth had been sleeping in his position near the back of the bus, his head resting gently on the window. The sudden cessation of movement caused him to stir from his slumber and look sleepily out the glass beside him.

On realising where he was, Mouth sluggishly got to his feet and began to make his way down the aisle towards the door. He paused briefly on the top step before descending slowly and stepping out into the warm heat of the sun.

For a moment he just stood there, glancing around at the scenes playing out before him. When he'd boarded the bus in Tree Hill, he'd been certain that it was the correct thing to do, that it would be better for everyone, including himself if he just disappeared for a while.

However, now that he was actually here, standing alone in an unknown town, with nothing but the clothes he was wearing and his wallet Mouth was beginning to have doubts. At least in Tree Hill he had his friends and family, but here? Here he had no one.

Slowly Mouth started to make his way towards the terminal exit, pausing only once to look back at the bus behind him. He was tempted to turn around and head back, back to Tree Hill and whatever awaited him there. After all, hadn't it been him that'd told Brooke not to run from her problems but to face up to them?

Right now Mouth couldn't help but feel like he was being a complete hypocrite. _Do as I say and not as I do._ He thought to himself.

Mouth shook his head slowly and turned again, walking out of the bus terminal and onto the street outside. Just as he was descending the steps onto the sidewalk below Mouth heard a familiar voice call out from beside him.

"I told you we'd meet again," they said, "but no one ever believes anything I tell them. To be honest when I said that I wasn't expecting our rendezvous to be so soon, but this could work."

Mouth frowned before turning around to look at the person standing behind him.

Seeing the look of astonishment on his face, she walked down the steps to meet him.

"Way to say hello Mouth." Rachel said smiling.

"Rachel?" he asked shocked. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm not entirely sure." She answered, trying to look as puzzled as possible. "It's kind of a funny story."

Rachel paused momentarily before continuing, enjoying every minute of her act.

"You see," she began again. "I was waiting at the airport, trying to catch another flight to meet my folks on vacation, when I received a very strange and cryptic message on my cell from a guy that I kind of care about."

Rachel winked playfully at Mouth.

"Something about how he was in trouble and needed to get out of town for a bit." Rachel said, dramatically as though trying to jog his memory. "About how he was sitting on a bus and heading to a town called Honeygrove."

Rachel put her hand out in front of her and asked him quizzically.

"Sound at all familiar?"

Mouth reached out and touched Rachel's arm as though making sure that he wasn't just imagining her standing before him.

This time it was Rachel's turn to frown.

"Uh, Mouth?" she asked him, "Are you ok?"

Mouth smiled and laughed to himself.

"Yeah," he said truthfully. "I was just, you know, checking that it was really you."

Mouth paused for a moment and Rachel smiled at him.

"I never thought you'd actually come." He said.

"Well," Rachel said, taking Mouth's arm in hers and leading him up the street away from the bus terminal, "For some reason a ill-advised road trip with you, seemed so much more appealing to me then discussing my expulsion in more detail with my parents."

"What can I say?" she added dramatically, "I'm a sucker for a little adventure."

Mouth laughed at this and smiled at Rachel, causing her to smile back at him in return.

"So Mouth," she asked, "How much trouble are we talking about here?"

"Well," he said in response, "You know the whole time capsule, limo over a bridge, stolen calculus exam, love triangle, sex tape and teenage pregnancy rumour thing?"

Rachel laughed slightly before answering.

"Yeah, I think somehow I was involved in almost all of the previously mentioned." She said as more of an observation than anything.

Mouth stopped to look at Rachel.

"Well this is worse than all those things put together."

"Huh," she said sighing slightly. "Suddenly seeing my parents doesn't seem like such a bad idea anymore."

**(Karen's café) **

After updating the others on the events of the previous evening, Peyton had excused herself from the table and headed outside for some fresh air, Lucas following closely behind her.

Not long after that Nathan had gone to the restroom, leaving Brooke and Haley alone at the table.

"So," Haley said after Nathan had left, pointing towards the laceration that could still be seen on Brooke's forehead. "I bet that's a nice reminder of last night. Does it hurt?"

"Not as much as it did yesterday." Brooke said as she put her hand up to her head and winced slightly as she touched the cut. "I suppose it could have been worse," she said laughing despite the pain. "You could have punched me in the face as well, made it a matching pair." Brooke continued, pointing towards the eye that Peyton had hit after discovering the tape of Brooke and Nathan together.

Haley laughed at this. "Believe me I was tempted." She said playfully.

Brooke looked down at the table a moment.

"That was a joke." Haley said when she noticed the look on Brooke's face.

"Yeah I know," Brooke answered looking back up to meet Haley's gaze. "But it doesn't make me feel any less guilty about it."

"Brooke, listen to me," Haley said shaking Brooke's hand in her own. "As far as I'm concerned, what happened with you and Nathan is in the past, forgotten. Ok? I mean it happened a long time ago when we didn't even know each other. It's not like you've ever lied to me about anything else?"

At this, Brooke inhaled deeply and closed her eyes, a new wave of guilt washing over her. Initially she thought that stealing the calculus exam with Rachel would be harmless, but she'd felt awful when she'd found out that Haley had lost her job at the tutoring centre, especially because Brooke knew how much it meant to her friend.

"Listen Haley…" Brooke began opening her eyes to meet her friends' gaze.

Just as she was about to continue, Nathan returned to the table carrying a small book in his hands.

Brooke glanced at him as he sat down next to Haley who was continuing to watch Brooke closely.

She returned her gaze to Haley, losing her nerve to tell her about her role in the stolen papers.

"Thanks." Brooke said, forcing a smile.

Haley smiled back at her and nodded.

Feeling a sudden need to change the subject, Brooke turned towards Nathan.

"So Nate," she said, quickly pointing at the book, "What you got there?"

"A book of baby names." He answered, holding up the book for her to see.

Brooke looked between Nathan and Haley questioningly.

"So?" she asked, "You decided on anything yet?"

"Not yet," Haley sighed. "You got any suggestions?"

"Well," she said raising her eyebrow playfully, "I always liked the name Brooke."

Nathan laughed at the suggestion and asked, "Brooke you do realise we're having a boy right?"

"Yeah, I know." She answered smiling.

Haley looked towards Nathan, "You know," she said mischievously, " I kind of like it."

"You're kidding right?" Nathan asked.

"I think it's different." Haley responded shrugging her shoulders.

"Thank You." Brooke said enthusiastically holding her hand up in front of Haley.

Haley gave Brooke a high five and winked at her knowingly.

"You know Nate," Brooke began, "Haley is technically a famous musician, I mean she's been on tour and everything."

"What's that got to do with anything?" Nathan asked looking confused.

"Well," Haley said, seeing where Brooke was going with this. "Musicians can pretty much get away with naming their children anything."

"Exactly." Brooke said pointing at Haley.

Nathan looked between Brooke and Haley a bemused expression on his face. From his point of view both girls could have been extremely serious and he was starting to worry that Haley was actually considering this.

Just when he was about to say something else, Brooke and Haley burst into a fit of laughter before him.

"Nice," he said, nodding his head slowly, a small smile creeping onto his lips. "Ok, laugh it up you two."

"I'm sorry," Haley said still laughing, "but you should have seen your face."

Haley continued to laugh at Nathan as he leant back in his chair. Despite himself Nathan laughed as well.

"Besides we all know that there's only one Brooke around here." Brooke said smiling.

"That's true." Haley said pointing at Brooke. "You really think I'd be able to deal with another one?" she asked Nathan teasingly causing him to laugh harder.

"No, one is definitely more than enough." Nathan said.

"Hey!" Brooke said, feigning insult and playfully hitting him on the arm. "I'm not that bad."

"No you're worse," he said light-heartedly.

Brooke stuck her tongue out at him before laughing with the others.


	10. Chapter 10

**(Karen's Café: Outside)**

When Lucas left the café, he found Peyton sitting on a nearby bench outside, staring into the air before her. He approached her slowly, his body casting a shadow over her when he was close enough.

At the sudden feeling of darkness, Peyton glanced up at him and smiled lovingly.

Lucas smiled back at her and slowly sat himself down on the empty bench beside her. He reached over and wrapped his arm around Peyton's shoulders pulling her close to him, so that she was resting her head gently on his chest.

Lucas rested his chin softly atop Peyton's head and rubbed her arm gently with his hand.

For a moment they sat like this in silence, both deep in their own thoughts.

After another couple of minutes, Lucas dropped his head so that he could look at Peyton. When she caught his gaze, Peyton sat up and gazed at Lucas, his arm still wrapped around her comfortingly.

"What you doing out here?" he asked her softly, brushing her cheek with his hand. "Is everything ok? You seemed kind of quiet inside."

Peyton smiled at him.

"Yeah, I'm ok." She said whilst taking his hand in her own. "I just needed some time to clear my head and think"

"What about?" Lucas asked, concern on his face.

"Everything really," Peyton answered before looking down at the floor. "Derek, graduation, college, the future. Just everything."

Lucas pulled Peyton into another embrace and kissed her lightly on the forehead.

"Has anyone ever told you that you worry too much?" he asked her when they'd separated again. "Derek's in jail, Peyton. He can't hurt you anymore, I promise."

Lucas glanced at the necklace he'd given Peyton last night.

"You'll get through this Peyton, just like you did the last time. Only it'll be different now."

Peyton looked up at Lucas questioningly.

"Different?" she asked him when he didn't elaborate.

"Yeah different," he answered, smiling at her, "because this time you won't just have me to support you through it, you'll have Brooke as well."

Peyton looked towards Brooke's car still park outside Karen's café. She'd done so much for Peyton last night, more than she probably even realised and Peyton knew that because of it their friendship would be even stronger than ever.

Still, even that knowledge couldn't comfort her from the oppressive dread that threatened to tear her apart inside. The constant fear that perhaps even their friendship wouldn't be strong enough to survive the possibility of death. People always leave, isn't that what she said? Anna, Ellie. Why would Brooke be any different?

Peyton looked through the window into Karen's café and saw Brooke laughing with Nathan and Haley. She smiled to herself at the sight before turning back to Lucas.

"Yeah I know she will." Peyton said kissing Lucas lovingly.

Lucas brushed the side of Peyton's face again.

"Don't worry about the other stuff Peyton." He said, "Because otherwise, you'll wake up one day and realise that you spent so much time worrying about what could happen in the future, that you forgot to enjoy the present."

"You're right." Peyton said glancing quickly at Brooke again before looking at Lucas once more and smiling affectionately at him. "Tomorrow can wait. Whatever happens in the future I can deal with it then, right now I want live life like there is no tomorrow, you know seize the day, carpe diem."

With that Peyton pulled Lucas closer and kissed him deeply. Lucas wrapped his arms around her protectively, drawing her body closer to his.

When they separated Lucas smiled at her and laughed.

"Carpe diem." He agreed wrapping his arm once more around Peyton's shoulders and pulling her in close.

"So, now that you have this whole new outlook on life," Lucas asked her, "do you want to go back inside and join our friends?"

"In a minute," she said resting her head once more on his chest and taking his hand in hers. "I just want to stay like this a little while longer."

Lucas smiled and kissed Peyton softly on the forehead as she sat there in his arms contently.

**(Honeygrove: Motel Room)**

Rachel and Mouth sat together on the bed in her motel room, him relaying everything that had happened last night at prom and what he knew about Dan's hand in Keith's death.

When he'd finished, Rachel sat there silent for a moment before finally letting out a huge sigh.

"Ok," she said still exhaling. "You were right, that is worse."

"What am I going to do Rachel?" Mouth asked her pleadingly.

At first Mouth had been uncertain whether or not to divulge what he knew to Rachel, but after learning that Lucas had already discovered Dan's secret, meant that he no longer needed to worry about him finding out. At this point, Mouth didn't think that he had anything to lose.

"You're asking me?" she asked surprised. "Mouth I know I've been in a lot of trouble this year but it doesn't really compare to this. We're talking about murder here, you know taking another persons life."

"I know that." He said dropping his head down to his chest and rubbing his temples with his hand.

Rachel put her hand on his arm supportively.

"You said Lucas knows now," she offered, "What exactly did he say when you told him?"

Mouth met Rachel's inquisitive gaze.

"I didn't tell him," Mouth said quietly. "I haven't spoken to him since last night. I don't even know how he found out."

"Ok, so if Lucas knows and you didn't tell him," Rachel said thinking about it carefully. "Then Abby must have, I mean, you said no one else knew about it, right?"

Mouth shook his head, "It wouldn't have been Abby," he said knowingly. "She barely wanted to tell me, there's no way she'd have told Lucas."

"Hmmm, you know what?" Rachel said, "The prospect of my parents is suddenly looking more and more appealing."

"Rachel…" Mouth began but she cut him short, starting to babble.

"No, seriously. I mean I wasn't even out of town before Brooke and Peyton end up in a fight and turn up at prom together looking like a pair of earthquake survivors and you've become caught up in some conspiracy to try and cover up a murder."

Rachel stood up and started pacing the length of the room.

Suddenly she turned to Mouth.

"I need a drink," she said, one hand resting on her hip, the other moving dramatically in front of her.

"What?" Mouth asked her. "How's that going to help?"

"Well, for a start it'll make me feel better." She said walking over to her purse lying on the dresser and picking it up. "You want me to bring you anything back?"

Mouth stood up and followed her as she opened the door.

"Where are you going?" he asked as she stepped outside it.

"To the liquor store across the street." She said as she paused in the doorway and turned to face him. "I need something to help me think."

Mouth placed both his hands on top of his head before leaning it back and sighing heavily.

When Rachel got no further protest from him she said, "I'll be ten minutes tops."

Mouth nodded and Rachel turned, leaving the room and closing the door behind her. Once she'd left, Mouth sat back down on the bed alone.

**(Honeygrove: Outside)**

Once across the street and certain that Mouth was not going to follow after her, Rachel removed her cell phone from her purse and dialled the first number in it's memory.

**(Karen's Café: Inside)**

Brooke, Nathan and Haley were still sitting around the table when Lucas and Peyton re-entered the café hand in hand.

When they entered, Peyton saw that the three of them were still laughing together.

"Hey," Brooke said when she saw them approaching, "everything alright?"

She had looked pointedly at Peyton as she'd asked this question. She knew that Peyton was struggling with her news and that she didn't want to share how she was feeling about it with Brooke, for fear of upsetting her. However, Brooke hoped that eventually Peyton would be able to open up to her, and realise that she didn't have to hide her feelings, because if Peyton was going to support Brooke through this, than vice versa was also true. Brooke was going to support Peyton.

"Yeah," Peyton said smiling at Brooke and taking an empty seat next to her. " I just needed some fresh air that's all."

"That makes sense," Nathan commented as Lucas took the seat next to him, "I'm surprised that there's any air left in here with Brooke's ego."

"Ouch," Brooke said putting her hand to her chest.

Peyton laughed, "Ok, did I miss something?"

"Not really," Nathan answered, "Brooke was just telling us all the reasons why we just have to name our child after her."

Lucas looked at Nathan and laughed, "I thought we'd agreed to name it after me?"

"Well then, I might as well throw my name into the hat as well." Peyton added looking at the bewildered expression on Haley's face and laughing.

"Ok," Haley said putting her hands up in the air before her. "How about we change the subject?"

"But this is serious Haley," Nathan said mocking his wife, "I mean we don't have long until the baby gets here and we still haven't decided on a name for him."

Haley hit Nathan playfully.

"Ouch, what are you hitting me for?" he asked laughing, "I'm only repeating what you told me."

"Yeah, but when I said it, I meant it." She said hitting him playfully again.

Just then Brooke's cell phone began to ring in her jacket pocket. Peyton looked at Brooke expectantly.

Brooke removed the cell phone from where it was and looked at the name flashing on her screen.

_**Out of Area**_

Brooke frowned and answered it.

"Hello?" she asked tentatively.

At this, Lucas, Nathan and Haley all stopped to watch her.

"Hey back at you," the voice said jokingly, "you cheating whore."

Brooke laughed at the familiar name before responding.

"Did I ever mention that you're a crazy bitch?" she asked, catching sight of Haley's questioning look.

Brooke stood up from the table and headed over towards the counter, an instant feeling of guilt coming over her.

The others watched after her, and when Brooke met Peyton's gaze she mouthed 'Rachel' to her, knowing that she was worried it was the hospital.

"You might have mentioned it a couple of times." Rachel replied smiling to herself.

"So where are you?" Brooke asked.

"It's kind of a long story," she answered glancing back over the street towards her motel. "I need to ask you a favour."

"Anything?" Brooke said without hesitation. "It's the least I can do after everything you did for me."

"I was hoping that you'd say that." Rachel said exhaling loudly.

"Rachel what's going on?" Brooke asked concerned. "Are you in trouble?"

"No more than usual." She said in response. "But the favour isn't for me."

"Then who's it for?" Brooke said getting more puzzled by the minute.

"Mouth," she replied simply.

"Mouth?" Brooke asked, "Ok, now you've lost me."

At the sound of Mouth's name, Lucas looked quickly back towards where Brooke was standing, disengaging himself from the new conversation which had started up at the table. From where he was sitting Lucas was trying to listen intently to Brooke's conversation.

"I need you to come to Honeygrove." Rachel said, "I'll explain everything when you get here."

"Honeygrove?" Brooke asked, "Where is that?"

"It's a small town about 2 hours northwest of Tree Hill. Just call me when you get here, ok?"

With that Rachel hung up her cell phone and walked into the liquor store.

"Rachel?" Brooke asked down the phone. "Rachel? You still there?"

Brooke looked at her phone in confusion when she was left listening to the sound of a dial tone.


	11. Chapter 11

**(Karen's Café: Inside)**

Brooke returned her cell phone to her pocket and glanced towards Peyton who was looking curiously at her from where she was sitting. Noting the puzzled look on Brooke's face, Peyton got to her feet and walked over to her. When Peyton reached Brooke, she placed her hand gently on Brooke's shoulder.

"What's going on?" Peyton asked her friend.

"I'm not sure," Brooke said honestly, "but I need to go."

"What?" Peyton said surprised as Brooke started making her way to the door of the café.

Peyton chased after her, grabbing her by the arm before she managed to leave.

"Where are you going?" Peyton asked her, clearly troubled by Brooke's sudden desire to depart.

"I have to leave town for a bit." Brooke said watching Peyton closely. "Rachel wants me to meet her."

"Brooke," Peyton began, speaking softly so that the others couldn't hear. "Is there something that you're not telling me?"

"No," Brooke replied, removing Peyton's hand from her arm gently and holding it comfortingly in hers. "It's not me."

Brooke paused for a moment before continuing.

"I promise." She said.

As the others watched the interaction between the two girls, their interest in their conversation intensified, causing Lucas to stand up and walk over to where they were. He wrapped his arm around Peyton's shoulders when he was beside her.

"Brooke are you leaving?" Lucas asked her.

"Yeah, I'm sorry." Brooke said releasing Peyton's hand from hers and placing it on the door handle. She pushed the door open and turned to exit.

Just as Brooke was about to step outside, Peyton seized her arm yet again and stepped out of Lucas' embrace.

"Let me come with you." She asked imploringly.

"Peyton…" Brooke began.

"Please." Peyton cut her off. "Brooke?"

Brooke reached up and rubbed her head soothingly, catching the laceration from last night and wincing at the pain. All of a sudden she wasn't feeling particularly well, whether due to the unexpected feeling of worry that she now had or because the events of the last thirty-six hours were finally catching up with her she couldn't tell.

"Brooke?" Peyton asked again, desperation creeping into her voice.

Brooke closed her eyes to think for a moment and rested her head against the door, which was still held open in her hand. After a moment, she softly started hitting her head against the door before turning back to glance at Peyton.

Knowing that Peyton wasn't going to let her leave easily, Brooke relented, sighing heavily.

"Ok," she said.

Lucas looked at Peyton questioningly, as Nathan and Haley came over to join them.

"Ok," Haley said to no one in particular. "What the hell just happened?"

Lucas shrugged and everyone looked at Brooke expectantly.

"I just…" Brooke stuttered, "You see, what happened was…"

Brooke glanced at the probing faces of her friends and tried to find a logical way to rationalise what she was about to do.

"That was Rachel." She managed to get out, glimpsing the look of resentment on Haley's face.

Ignoring this momentarily, Brooke continued.

"She's in a town called Honeygrove about two hours from here and she wants me to go and meet her there." Brooke finished.

"Why?" Haley asked, obviously irritated.

"That's the thing," Brooke answered. "She didn't really say."

"Wait a minute," Nathan said trying to make sense of what Brooke was telling them. "So Rachel calls from some town, asking you to meet her there, but not telling you why and without so much as a second thought you're just going to up and leave?"

Brooke swallowed hard and nodded.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it." She answered him.

"And you'd do that for her, no questions asked?" Haley asked. "After everything she's done?"

Brooke rubbed her temples with her hand again, trying to stop the headache that was threatening to start.

"Haley," Brooke said meeting her glance. "It's complicated, ok? Rachel's been a really good friend to me lately. So has Mouth. I can't..."

"Wait." Lucas interrupted, "What's this got to do with Mouth?" he asked.

Brooke was taken off guard by Lucas' question and it took her a moment to adjust.

"I don't know," she said, confused, "Rachel just said that meeting her was a favour to him."

"So he's with her?" Lucas asked.

Brooke turned her free hand so that it was palm up, indicating that she had no idea. Lucas thought for a moment before speaking again. If Mouth had skipped town with Rachel then something must have happened to him, and Lucas was willing to bet that whatever it was, Dan had a hand in it.

"I'll come too." Lucas said.

"No, Lucas…" Brooke began to protest.

"Come on Brooke," Lucas interrupted her. "Mouth's my friend as well, and if he's in trouble I want to help him."

"But I don't even know if he's there?" Brooke said.

"It doesn't matter." Lucas responded, "If Rachel knows something, than I want to know too."

Brooke looked at Lucas for a moment before answering.

"Ok fine," she said in defeat "Let's go."

Lucas looked towards the counter as his mom appeared from out the back.

"Give me one minute," he said, turning and walking over to his mom.

"Me and Nathan are coming as well," Haley said to Brooke then.

"We are?" Nathan asked her in surprise.

"Yeah," she answered him. "I don't trust a single thing that Rachel says, but if Mouth really is in trouble than he's going to need all his friends."

Haley paused for a brief moment.

"You never know," she added, "It might be fun?"

Brooke looked at Haley as they waited for Lucas. It's not that she didn't want her and Nathan to come along on the trip, at this point a couple of extra people weren't going to make a huge amount of difference, especially because Peyton and Lucas had both insisted on joining her. Still, Brooke wasn't sure that it was a good idea for Rachel and Haley to be in the same room as each other considering the fight that had started at the party the other night.

Haley was still upset over the stolen calculus exam and Rachel was annoyed that last time she'd been humiliated by a pregnant girl half her size.

* * *

Lucas walked around to the other side of the counter to where his mom was standing. 

"What's going on over there?" Karen asked pointing in the direction of the group huddled by the entrance.

"It's a bit complicated," Lucas said frowning.

"Well, what's the short version?" Karen asked him.

"Mouth and Rachel are stuck in some town about two hours away," Lucas said quickly, "Brooke and Peyton are going to go and meet them…"

"And you were wondering if I minded you going along as well?" she said finishing off his sentence.

"If that's ok?" he asked. "Obviously if you need me here then I'll stay."

"I'll be fine." Karen said as she wiped down the counter top with her cloth. "Just be careful on the road."

"Are you sure?" Lucas questioned her. "I mean if you really don't want me to go…"

"Go," Karen interrupted. "Besides Dan is coming over for dinner later so it'll give us some time alone."

"Dan?" Lucas said, surprise evident in his voice.

"Is there a problem?" Karen asked him.

"It's just, Dan?" Lucas queried. "Do you truly believe that he's a changed person?"

"To be honest Lucas," Karen began, "I don't know. All I know is that he's been a good friend since I lost Keith and sometimes it's nice to share the company of someone my own age." She said laughing.

The thought of his mom spending a quiet evening with Dan was difficult for Lucas to stomach after what he'd discovered about him, but at this point he was unable to tell his mom what he knew, especially without any proof. Lucas needed to talk to Mouth and Abby before he broached the subject with his mom. This trip would give him an opportunity to do that.

"Ok," Lucas said finally, "Just, promise me that you'll be careful."

"Deal," Karen said smiling and pulling Lucas into a warm embrace. "Call me when you get there." She said releasing him from her grasp.

"I promise," he said as he turned to rejoin the others, waving at his mom as he did.

"Ready?" Peyton asked when Lucas reached them, reaching for his hand instinctively.

"Yeah," Lucas said taking Peyton's hand in his.

"Ok then," Brooke said smiling, "Let's go."

Brooke quickly turned and began to make her way out of the café when she collided with an unsuspecting Skills as he tried to enter.

"Sorry," she said, attempting to stay balanced.

"Whoa mama, what's the rush?" he said as he steadied himself.

Brooke pointed at Skills and opened her mouth as though to say something, but rather than telling him what she had already explained to everyone else, she shook her head, sighed and started to descend the steps towards her car.

Peyton followed after her, saying, "Hey Skills," as she passed him.

Skills watched after them a confused expression on his face. When he returned his gaze to the others, Lucas placed a hand on his shoulders and said, "I'll explain everything."

* * *

Outside Peyton caught up with Brooke as she was climbing into the driver's side of her car. Just as she was about to close the door, Peyton grabbed it, holding it open. 

Brooke looked up at her questioningly.

"I'm driving," Peyton said in answer.

Brooke was about to argue but Peyton stopped her before she could.

"You still have concussion," Peyton said in response to Brooke's unasked question. "So, you can't drive, which leaves the task to me."

Brooke stood up to face Peyton and handed her the car keys.

"Just promise me you'll go gently." Brooke said.

"I'm always gentle," Peyton said sarcastically, whilst winking.

"R-i-g-h-t," Brooke said laughing, dragging out the word slowly as she said it.

Peyton hit her playfully before pulling her into a hug.

"What was that for?" Brooke asked startled when Peyton released her.

"Just because," Peyton answered smiling.

Brooke smiled back at Peyton before looking in the direction of the others who were still standing by the door of the café, Lucas explaining everything to Skills.

"You guys coming?" she called to them.

The four of them exited the café and walked down to meet Brooke and Peyton.

"Skills is coming along too," Lucas, said when he reached them.

"We've already got a full car." Peyton said.

"I know," Lucas, answered, "I'll take my car as well. We'll need the extra seats for Mouth and Rachel when we return anyway."

"Ok," Peyton asked, "so who's going with who?"

Lucas shrugged, "You and Skills come with me? Nathan and Haley with Brooke?"

"I've got to drive Brooke's car," Peyton answered him.

"Why?" Lucas asked confused. "Can't Brooke drive it?"

Brooke shook her head and pointed to the laceration from last night. "Concussion." She said.

"I'll come with you guys," Haley said walking over towards Brooke and taking her arm. "No offence." She added smiling to the boys.

"Ok," Lucas said, "So that leaves Nathan."

"I'm with you," he said to Lucas. "I'm not sure I could last two hours with those three. Especially if the subject of baby names comes up again."

Nathan stepped forward and kissed Haley. "No offence." He added winking at her.

"Then let's go," Lucas said gesturing to Nathan. "My car's parked a little further down the road."

Lucas turned to Brooke.

"Honeygrove?" he asked.

"Yeah," she answered as Haley entered the car. "We'll wait for your car and you can follow us."

Lucas nodded and stepped forward to kiss Peyton goodbye. As Lucas, Skills and Nathan made their way to Lucas' car, Brooke and Peyton entered hers.

"Ok," Haley said from her position in the back seat, "Is it me or do we do this whole road trip thing a lot? I mean there was the Pickerington away game, our trip to New York and don't forget the numerous cheerleading competitions we've been to."

Brooke opened the glove compartment and handed Haley the map.

"We do this a lot navigation girl." Brooke said laughing.

"That's what I thought." Haley said taking the map and resting back in her seat.

When Peyton could see Lucas' car approaching them from down the street, she pulled Brooke's car away from the curb and began to lead the way out of Tree Hill and towards Honeygrove.


	12. Chapter 12

**(Honeygrove)**

Mouth was lying on the bed in Rachel's motel room, going over all the events of the last twenty-four hours in his head. It was then that he realised that he hadn't spoken to Brooke since last night, that he hadn't seen her since before his encounter with Dan at the prom.

He wondered to himself whether Brooke was ok and if she had finally managed to tell Peyton about her condition. Selfishly, Mouth hoped that she had, that he was no longer the only person in Brooke's life to know, at least that would take some of the burden he'd been carrying from his shoulders.

Just then, Mouth heard the door open, and Rachel stepped into the motel room brandishing a brown paper bag containing bottles of vodka, tequila, Pepsi, a whole lemon and plastic cups. Mouth sat bolt upright on the bed, her sudden intrusion into his thoughts causing him to jump.

Rachel looked at Mouth curiously, sensing his shock at her return.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked.

"I wasn't expecting you back so soon," he answered truthfully, "You scared me."

Rachel looked at her watch and placed the bag down on the dresser beside the bed.

"Ten minutes exactly," she said tapping her watch as though to illustrate the point. "Just like I told you."

Rachel glanced at him suspiciously, noting his flustered expression.

"Oh my god," she said then, "You weren't like, brooking yourself were you?"

"Not exactly," Mouth answered distantly.

Rachel frowned at him, "What does that mean?"

Mouth laughed, "No I wasn't brooking myself. I was just thinking about some things."

"What, like how you hold the key to bringing down the mayor of Tree Hill?" she asked removing the bottle of vodka from the bag and placing it on the dresser. "Not to mention one of your best friends father."

"Partly," he said watching Rachel as she removed the bottle of Pepsi from the bag and placed it on the dresser beside the vodka.

"So," she said removing the plastic cups and waving them at Mouth, a huge grin on her face. "Drink?"

* * *

**(Brooke's Car)**

Peyton had been driving for about an hour when the Spice Girls song Wannabe came on Brooke's CD player.

"No way," Peyton said laughing and looking at Brooke who was smiling back at her.

"Way," Brooke said starting to bop her head to the music.

"I can't believe that you still have this CD," Peyton chuckled to herself. "God I remember when you first bought it."

"Is this the Spice Girls?" Haley asked Brooke.

Brooke turned around in her chair to look at Haley.

"Yeah it is," she said nodding her head excitedly.

"Taylor used to listen to them all the time." Haley said looking at Brooke before glancing at Peyton.

Haley was surprised to see that Peyton shared Brooke's enthusiasm for the song and was now singing along whilst shaking her head rhythmically to the music.

"Ok Blondie," Haley asked laughing. "Are you seriously telling me that you liked the Spice Girls? I definitely didn't see that one coming."

"Are you saying that you didn't?" Peyton asked her. At this Brooke looked back at Peyton and smiled.

"No," Haley answered, "I'm just having difficulty accepting that you did."

"Well, that's because you don't understand the sentiment behind the song." Peyton said teasingly.

"Then please," Haley joked, "why don't you enlighten me."

"Ok," Peyton said. "When me and Brooke were younger, we used to ride our bikes to the mall every Tuesday after school." Peyton started. "I'd buy CD's and Brooke would buy make up."

"Surprising," Haley mocked.

Brooke looked back at Haley and stuck her tongue out.

"Then afterwards we'd go back to Peyton's house and listen to them," Brooke continued. "We'd try on the make up I just bought and talk about boys."

"You know, as difficult as it is to imagine that," Haley said tauntingly.

Brooke turned around and hit Haley playfully on the arm.

"Ow," she laughed before asking. "What's all this got to do with the Spice Girls?"

Peyton turned and smiled

"Well, one afternoon we were at the mall and Brooke noticed this CD on the shelf." Peyton answered.

"I'd heard this song on the radio a couple of times." Brooke said, "and loved it."

Haley laughed as Peyton continued.

"So naturally Brooke had to have it." Peyton chuckled. "She was so excited after she bought it that we had to go straight back to mine and listen to it."

"Is that it?" Haley asked. "That's the sentiment you were talking about?"

"No," Brooke said turning around.

"This Hales," Peyton interrupted, "is the song that was playing when Hoe's over Bro's was first created."

"Seriously?" Haley asked smiling. "This is where Hoe's over Bro's comes from?"

"Yeah," Brooke said, "we were listening to it in Peyton's room, me jumping all over her bed energetically…"

"And me not so much," Peyton added.

"Maybe not at first," Brooke declared, "but by the end of the afternoon, you were behaving exactly the same way."

"Anyway," Peyton said in an attempt to steer the subject in a different direction. "After like the fifth time of it being on repeat, Brooke knew all the words and that's when…"

"I came up with Hoe's over Bro's," Brooke finished.

"Wait," Haley questioned, "You came up with Hoe's over Bro's just because of a song?"

Brooke sighed, "Haley you know the words to this song right?"

"Sort of?" she answered frowning.

"Ok," Peyton said, "Listen to the next chorus."

_If you wannabe my lover_

_You've gotta get with my friends_

_Make it last forever_

_Friendship never ends._

"Basically," Brooke said, "That was the day that me and Peyton decided that we would always put our friendship before boyfriends, that anyone we dated would have to get on with the other…"

"Because boyfriends would come and go," Peyton cut in, "but we would be friends forever."

Brooke turned and straightened her arm towards Peyton, her hand clenched into a fist.

Peyton looked at her and smiled. She removed her nearest hand from the steering wheel and mirrored Brooke.

"Hoe's over Bro's?" Brooke asked.

Peyton nodded and laughed bringing their fists together.

"Buds over Studs." She added before placing her hand back onto the steering wheel.

Haley smiled at the pair of them, "I've missed this," she said.

Brooke and Peyton exchanged looks.

"Me too." They said in unison. Peyton laughed and rubbed Brooke's knee with her hand comfortingly.

Brooke turned around to Haley and straightened her arm out towards her.

"Hoe's over Bro's?" she asked.

Haley laughed, "Hoe's over Bro's." she said bringing their fists together.

Brooke clapped her hands excitedly. "God, this is going to be so much better than our last Hoe's over Bro's reunion tour!" She exclaimed loudly as Peyton smiled and continued to drive.


	13. Chapter 13

**(Honeygrove)**

Rachel was sitting on the edge of her bed; drink in hand, watching as Mouth continued to pace back and forth across the motel room. For the last two hours, he'd barely spoken, declining Rachel's offer of a drink in order to maintain a clear head and think about things.

From where Rachel was sitting however, remaining sober hadn't appeared to help him in the least. As far as she could tell from the sombre expression on his face, which had materialised about an hour ago, he was feeling worse than before.

"Ok," she said after she could no longer bear to watch him walk up and down the length of the room. "You got a plan yet or what?"

Mouth stopped dead in his tracks and turned to look at her, registering surprise at the sudden lapse in silence that had fallen between them.

"I'm still working on it." He said walking over and sitting beside her on the bed.

"I thought you were supposed to be smart?" Rachel asked finishing off the last remaining dregs of her drink.

Mouth frowned at her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, hurt evident in his voice.

"Well," Rachel said, standing up and pouring herself another drink from the bottles on the dresser. "You've spent the last two hours burning a whole in the carpet, in an attempt to solve your problem, yet here we are in exactly the same position we were when you started."

"Ok," Mouth said, "so I haven't managed to come up with anything yet, but you said a drink would help you think and so far I haven't heard any great ideas coming from your corner."

Rachel smiled at him and Mouth gave her a questioning look. Noting this Rachel picked up an empty cup from the dresser and held it up before Mouth, in a silent offer.

"What's the point?" Mouth asked.

"It'll make you feel better," Rachel, said winking, "I promise."

Mouth took the cup from Rachel's hand in his own, holding it whilst Rachel filled it. Mouth took a small sip and met Rachel's gaze, realising the sudden smirk that had emerged on her face.

"Why are you smiling?" Mouth asked her.

Rachel leant back against the dresser and had some of her drink before answering. Mouth mirrored her, taking another sip of his.

"Maybe I'm trying to get you drunk." She said, keeping a straight face.

"Why so you can take advantage of me?" he asked mischievously.

"Well, that's one reason," Rachel said smiling and sitting down beside Mouth on the bed so that they were facing each other.

Mouth looked at her closely, staring into her eyes as she sat before him. Rachel lent close to him, her head inches from the side of his face. From where he was sitting, Mouth could smell her hair, and memories of last night flooded back. Being this close to Rachel, sent chills down his spine, and he suddenly became anxious.

Mouth swallowed hard and took a large mouthful of his drink to settle his nerves.

* * *

**(Lucas car)**

Nathan had been sitting alongside Lucas upfront for the journey to Honeygrove. The majority of the trip himself and Lucas had spent craning their necks in an attempt to try and keep sight of Brooke's VW in the distance and because of this the conversation had been limited.

Nathan turned around to talk to Skills, who was sitting in the back seat, only to find that he'd fallen asleep, his head jolting randomly as the car travelled over the uneven road surface.

Nathan laughed and nudged Lucas with his elbow. Lucas turned around to look at Skills and groaned.

"Oh man," Lucas said turning back to face the road. "That's not pretty."

Nathan took out his cell phone from his pocket and opened it up.

"What are you doing?" Lucas laughed.

"Taking a picture," Nathan said.

Lucas looked at Nathan questioningly as he took the snapshot and turned back to face the road ahead.

Nathan caught Lucas' expression and added, "You know, for insurance purposes."

"Insurance for what?" Lucas asked.

"I'm not sure yet." He frowned, "but it's got to come in handy at some point in the future, right?"

Lucas shook his head as he continued laughing.

"Right," he said.

Just then Skills head was jarred by a large dip in the road causing him to snort loudly as he slept.

Nathan and Lucas looked at each other and laughed.

"There's only one thing that's missing," Nathan said.

"Oh yeah," Lucas asked, "and what's that?"

"Holiday…" Nathan started.

Lucas looked at Nathan a huge grin spreading across his face.

"It's the best day," Lucas continued.

"Ice-Cream day" they said in unison as Lucas continued to drive, turning off after Peyton and entering Honeygrove, "I am only happy, when I have, holiday."

* * *

**(Honeygrove)**

Mouth gulped uncomfortably as Rachel continued to lean intimately close to him.

"What's the other?" he asked, his voice hoarse.

"Well," Rachel said noticing that her phone was vibrating on the bed behind Mouth.

Rachel leant forward, inching her body even closer to Mouth as she picked up the phone and looked at the caller ID.

_**Brooke**_

Rachel smiled.

"I had to keep you occupied until the cavalry arrived," she whispered into his ear playfully.

Mouth quickly pulled his head away to look at her, shock evident on his face.

"What cavalry?" he asked confused.

"Uh, this cavalry," Rachel said waving the phone in front him.

Noticing Brooke's name on the caller ID, Mouth stood up.

"You called Brooke?" he asked, "When?"

Rachel put her finger up to silence him, "Hold that thought," she said as she connected the call.

"Slut" Rachel answered, Mouth watching her closely.

"Bitch," Brooke replied down the phone, laughing.

"You're skanky ass here?" Rachel asked.

"Oh, it's here," came Brooke's answer.


	14. Chapter 14

**(Honeygrove: Outside)**

Lucas pulled up his car and parked beside Brooke's VW in what appeared to be the main street in Honeygrove. Through his windscreen Lucas could see the girls standing on the sidewalk next to their car, Peyton leaning against the hood watching Brooke pace as she spoke to someone on her cell.

Lucas, Nathan and the newly awoken Skills, stepped out of the car to join them.

If possible, Lucas thought that Honeygrove looked like an even smaller town than Tree Hill.

When Nathan reached Haley, he wrapped his arms around her and gave her a light kiss, before turning to look at Brooke who was now off the phone and walking back over towards the group.

Lucas leant on the hood of Brooke's car alongside Peyton, his hands in his pocket.

"Well?" Lucas asked when she was facing them. "What happens now? Is Rachel coming to meet us or…"

"Actually, I'm going to meet her." Brooke interrupted, glancing at the penetrating faces around her. "Alone." She added.

"What?" Lucas questioned pushing himself off the hood of the car and stepping towards Brooke. "So we've just driven two hours for nothing?"

Brooke shrugged her shoulders, "Lucas, at this point I know as little as you do about all this."

She paused momentarily to glance down at her feet.

"All I know is that Rachel wants to meet with me alone." Brooke sighed, "I'm sorry."

On the phone, Brooke had explained to Rachel how the others had come to join her on the trip, however, she'd been adamant that for now, she would only see Brooke.

Lucas placed his hand on his hip and ran his other through his hair, clearly irritated.

"Ok," Lucas said finally after an awkward moment of silence. "Well, do you know if Mouth is with her?"

Brooke shook her head, "No," she said quietly, "she didn't tell me."

Lucas shook his head as he turned back towards Brooke's car and hammered his fists down squarely onto its bonnet in frustration. "Great," he muttered under his breath.

Brooke flinched as he did this and brought her hand up to her head, rubbing her temple soothingly. The rest of the group stared at Lucas in disbelief, Peyton moving away from the car slightly.

For a moment, everyone just watched him, confusion evident on their faces. Finally, Peyton broke the silence by addressing Brooke.

"Where are you meeting her?" she asked hesitantly, glancing at Lucas who had now turned back to face Brooke.

"She's staying at the Sunset Arms motel," Brooke sighed, pointing across the street at the nearby motel. "In room 109, I'm supposed to meet her there."

Peyton stepped towards Brooke and rubbed her arm.

"Ok," she said, "Then you should go."

Brooke peered towards Lucas, catching his expression.

"Peyton…" Brooke began.

"Just call us when you're finished and we'll come meet you." Peyton cut her off, smiling reassuringly.

Brooke nodded, "Thanks," she said smiling back at Peyton before crossing the street and heading towards the motel.

The group watched in silence as she disappeared out of view.

"Man," Skills said turning to Lucas once Brooke had vanished from sight. "That was messed up dawg."

Peyton, Nathan and Haley all turned to face Lucas who sighed heavily, a wave of guilt washing over him.

**(Honeygrove: Motel Room)**

Once Rachel had disconnected her call from Brooke, she turned around to face Mouth, a large grin on her face.

"Now," she said noticing Mouth's inquiring expression, "What were we talking about?"

"You called Brooke?" he asked loudly, spreading his arms out in front of him, incredulity in his voice.

"Yeah," Rachel replied.

"When?" Mouth asked puzzled, "I mean, how could you tell her about this?"

At present Mouth was having conflicted feelings towards Brooke. He'd been upset when he'd returned to prom last night to find that Brooke was no longer there and had left without saying goodbye. After he'd spent the majority of the evening waiting for her to return from Peyton's house, he didn't think that it was too much to ask of her to hang around a couple of minutes while he spoke to Abby. Apparently, he'd been wrong.

On the other hand, Mouth knew the struggle that Brooke was facing with her health. He knew that she was having a hard time dealing with it, even though she refused to discuss those any feelings she had about it with him or anyone else. That had been the reason he'd not wanted to involve her in his troubles, he felt she had enough to cope with and that she didn't need anything more.

"I called her when I went to the liquor store," Rachel said, pulling Mouth from his thoughts, "and relax, I haven't told her anything."

"You haven't?" Mouth asked feeling slightly relieved at this admission.

"No," Rachel said, "I thought I'd leave that up to you."

"What?" Mouth asked, "Rachel I'm not telling her about this."

Rachel frowned at him, "Why not?" she asked confused. "You told me."

Rachel took a sip of her drink before continuing.

"Besides, Brookes you're friend too and she's better in a crisis then I am, I mean look how she helped Haley with the whole pregnancy thing, and how she was there for Peyton after Ellie died. Only good can come of this, trust me."

Mouth stared at Rachel, his jaw moving wildly as he attempted to speak.

"This is hardly the same thing," Mouth managed to get out eventually.

"Sure it is," Rachel said smiling, "well, ok, maybe the circumstances aren't exactly the same, but the point is that one of her friends needs her support and if there's one thing I've discovered about Brooke it's that she'd never turn her back on that."

"You can't make me tell her Rachel," Mouth said defiantly.

"Of course I can," she answered smugly, "because if you don't, then I will."

Just then a loud knock came from the door to the room.

Rachel took another swig of her drink, draining the cup.

"So," she said to Mouth as she walked over towards the door and started to turn the handle. "What's it going to be?"

Mouth looked at her closely and shook his head slowly in defeat.

"Fine," he said. "I'll tell her."

Rachel winked at Mouth, "Somehow I thought you'd say that."

With that Rachel opened the door to find Brooke waiting patiently behind it. She frowned at the sight of her, noting Brooke's numerous cuts and bruises, still slightly visible beneath her make up.

"You look like hell," Rachel said teasingly.

"Well, you'd know," Brooke jokingly answered stepping into the room and noticing Mouth standing across from her.

"Have another fight with Peyton?" Rachel asked as she shut the door behind Brooke, "because it looks like she got you good."

Brooke laughed and turned to face Rachel who walked over towards the dresser and poured another drink.

"Not exactly." She answered.

"I swear with the weird lesbian energy you two have, you're only one fight away from ripping each others clothes off." Rachel said as she met Brooke's gaze, "You should tape the next one, sell it to pay per view, it'd make a fortune."

"I'll keep that in mind." Brooke said, returning her gaze to Mouth, who was looking distractedly at his feet.

"That's all I ask," Rachel said, handing Brooke the drink she'd just made. "Ok, this is for you, trust me you'll need it."

Brooke took the drink from Rachel and watched her questioningly as she headed towards the door.

"Wait," Brooke asked, "where are you going?"

"You two have a lot to talk about," Rachel said opening the door and standing in the entrance. "I'll be making the most of my fake I.D. in the bar down the street when you're finished."

Before Brooke had a chance to say anything further, Rachel left the room, closing the door shut behind her and leaving a stunned Brooke staring at the door in her wake.


	15. Chapter 15

**(Honeygrove: Outside) **

Peyton walked over towards Lucas and put her hand gently on his arm.

"What was all that about?" she asked concern in her voice.

Lucas put his free hand on top of hers before answering.

"I don't know," he sighed, "I guess, I'm just worried about Mouth."

Peyton took his hand in hers and squeezed it comfortingly before kissing Lucas affectionately.

Lucas pulled her in close to his body, wrapping his arm around her in a warm embrace.

"Yeah, I know you are," she said in response, "but taking it out on Brooke and her car isn't going to help matters. Besides you practically forced Brooke into letting you come along…" Peyton continued.

"You can talk." Lucas said laughing as he cut her short.

"Yeah," Peyton said hitting him playfully in the chest, "but I didn't come along expecting to see Mouth, did I? It's not as if she didn't warn you that he might not be here."

"I know," Lucas, sighed, "you're right." He said before planting a quick kiss on Peyton's lips. "If I apologise to her, will you forgive me?"

Peyton smiles at Lucas mischievously and winked, "I'll think about it?"

Lucas smiled and kissed Peyton again.

"So…" Haley began, "What do you guys want to do now?"

"Well," Nathan answered, "it's Brooke in there so we've definitely got some time to kill."

Catching Haley's quizzical look, Nathan continued.

"You know what she can be like when she gets talking. We could be here a while, that's all I'm saying" He said laughing.

"Uh huh," Skills nodded in agreement. "That girl sure can talk."

"Ok," Peyton said laughing, "then why don't we have a look around town? There has to be something fun to do here, right?"

Just then, Lucas noticed a redheaded girl appear from the same place that Brooke had entered no more than five minutes ago.

"Is that Rachel?" he asked pointing in the girls' direction as she made her way down the street.

The rest of the group turned to follow his gaze, and watched as the redhead entered a bar not far from the motel.

"That's her alright," Haley, said with irritation clear in her voice.

"Then where's Brooke?" Peyton asked.

"Shoot," Skills said, "this is starting to get a little freaky."

Lucas released Peyton from his embrace and began making his way across the street towards the bar that Rachel had gone into.

"Lucas," Peyton said as she grabbed his arm, "where are you going?"

"To talk to her," he said in response. "You coming?"

Without waiting, Lucas turned back and continued on his way to the bar.

Peyton shrugged at the others who exchanged confused looks before following closely after him.

**(Honeygrove: Motel)**

Brooke watched Mouth closely for a moment, noting his refusal to meet her gaze and feeling the awkward silence closing in on her.

"So…" Brooke began, playing with her hands anxiously, "this is a little weird, huh?"

Mouth looked up and met Brooke's gaze, and she saw the hurt in his eyes.

"What are you doing here Brooke?" he asked sadly.

Brooke was surprised by the question and frowned at Mouth.

"What do you mean?" she asked, "Rachel called me, she asked me to do her a favour…"

"So you came for her?" Mouth asked taking a seat on the bed and taking a sip of his drink.

Brooke walked over and sat beside him, taking his free hand.

"Yeah," she said, "and you."

Mouth looked up at Brooke's face, her expression betraying the obvious confusion she must be feeling.

Mouth removed his hand from hers and stood back up, causing Brooke's expression to change from one of confusion to hurt.

"Mouth…" she started.

"Where'd you go?" Mouth blurted out. "Last night at prom I came back to find you gone. No goodbye. Nothing."

This time it was Brooke's turn to avoid Mouth's glance.

"You're upset," she said quietly before standing up and walking over to him. "Mouth listen…"

"No Brooke," Mouth said angrily. "You listen, ok? I spent the whole night waiting for you, but you couldn't even stick around for five minutes for me."

"It wasn't like that," Brooke said closing her eyes to prevent herself from crying.

When Brooke had left the prom last night she'd been a mess, both emotionally and physically. She hadn't planned on abandoning Mouth there, but after her confession to Peyton, she couldn't face returning inside. It was only once she'd returned home that she'd remembered Mouth was still there. She'd attempted to call him but his phone had been switched off and she was unable to leave him a message.

"I thought you were my friend," Mouth said angrily, all his emotions finally getting the better of him. Mouth took a large swig of his drink and backed away from Brooke.

If he'd been thinking clearly, he'd realise that Brooke didn't fully deserve this, but at this moment he just wanted to express himself, to finally be able to vent about everything that he'd been going through the last couple of months to someone else.

All his anger towards Dan and his pain from Jimmy's death and losing Shelley, came flooding out at once, unfortunately, the person standing there when it did was Brooke.

"Mouth if you just let me explain…" Brooke begun.

"Why?" he asked cutting her off. "So you can spin me some lie about how you tried to call me, or how you left a message with someone else there?"

Mouth paused momentarily, breathing heavily, resentment consuming him.

"After everything I've done for you these past months, don't you think I deserve better than that? You think that it was easy for me to keep your secret to myself? That it wasn't eating me up inside to watch you pretend that nothing was wrong, when I knew differently."

Brooke felt tears forming behind her eyes and fought to hold them back.

"But I did, I did that for you." Mouth continued, "because I thought that we were friends, and that if the roles had been reversed, you'd do the same thing for me."

Mouth laughed to himself, "What a joke?"

"Mouth, please…" Brooke said choking back tears.

"Do you have any idea what its been like to watch you the last few months, knowing that everyday I didn't say something to someone else I could be signing your death warrant? All I asked of you was that you waited for me," he started, "That's it. I didn't ask you to lie to anyone for me, or burden you with a huge secret of my own. Five minutes of your time Brooke, that's all I asked of you, but you couldn't even give me that."

Mouth emptied the remainder of his drink quickly and placed the cup down on the dresser beside him. He was breathing heavily, months of pent up frustration causing him to become breathless now that he'd been able to release it.

For a moment, neither one of them said anything, the silence now in the room oppressively heavy.

It was then that Mouth realised that although he'd been looking at Brooke throughout his outburst, he hadn't really been looking at her. Now that he'd stopped and was beginning to calm down, he could see the pain in Brooke's expression. The hurt that he'd caused her. Tears were flowing freely from her eyes and streaming down her face.

Mouth rubbed the top of his head, the realisation of what had just happened hitting him like a hard blow to the face.

Brooke was dealing with her own problems right now, but one phone call from Rachel, and here she was standing before him. She'd put her problems aside and driven for two hours just to be here for him when he needed somebody and this is how he thanked her.

"Brooke…" Mouth began, trying to apologise.

Brooke put her hand up to stop him from going any further.

"I'm sorry," she said, her voice hoarse with emotion, "I guess I didn't realise that this was so difficult for you Mouth. "

Brooke nodded her head sadly.

"I should go." She said quietly.

Brooke placed the full cup that Rachel had given her onto the dresser before turning and walking towards the door.

When she reached it she paused and looked back at Mouth.

"I told Peyton," Brooke said, tears falling heavily from her eyes. "Last night before I left prom, I told her I have cancer."

Brooke paused momentarily, Mouth watching her closely, regret playing on his mind.

"At least now you don't have to worry about carrying that burden alone anymore." She said, tears streaming her face as she turned and exited the room.

**(Honeygrove: Outside)**

Lucas entered the bar to find Rachel sitting at the counter with a beer in her hand. She watched as he approached her a small smile on her lips.

"Lucas," she said when he was a little nearer, "fancy seeing you here."

"Where's Brooke?" he asked, getting straight to the point. "She said she was going to talk to you."

"Yet here I am," Rachel said, spreading her arms out in front of her and smiling.

Rachel took another sip of her drink as she watched the rest of the group enter behind Lucas.

"Well," she said placing her drink back on the bar, "Looks like the rest of the Scooby gang is here."

At that moment, Rachel locked eyes with Haley. "You here to kick my ass again?" she asked laughing.

Haley made a move towards Rachel but Skills held her back.

"Not now mama," he said.

"I guess I should watch my back." Rachel said playfully, lifting the glass to her mouth and taking another sip.

"Ok, Rachel just tell us where Brooke is?" Lucas said.

"I'm confused," Rachel, said, "I thought you didn't care about Brooke anymore, yet that's all you've talked about since you came in here."

Rachel looked pointedly at Peyton, "You should keep an eye on him." She said, "He's known to be indecisive, if you get what I mean."

Peyton scowled at Rachel whilst she lifted her glass once again. This time however, Lucas placed his hand over the top of it to stop Rachel from drinking.

"Killjoy," she said sighing and staring straight at Lucas.

"Where is she Rachel?" Lucas asked again, this time a hint of anger in his voice.

"I think," Rachel said mockingly, "that she's probably with someone that your rather eager to speak to in my motel room."

Lucas looked questioningly at Rachel, who didn't avert her gaze from his. Lucas read her expression, and realised what she was saying. _Mouth._ She knew about Dan, about Mouth's knowledge of the shooting and Keith's death. She knew everything.

Lucas shook his head and removed his hand from the top of Rachel's glass before turning around and walking quickly out of the bar.

"Nice talking to you," Rachel shouted after him laughing.

The rest of the group look at Rachel as she took another sip of her drink, confusion on their faces.

They were just about to turn around and follow Lucas out of the pub when someone took a seat next to Rachel and spoke to them.

"Well well," he said, "look who's come to see Chris Keller."

"You've got to be kidding me?" Nathan said aloud as he looked at Chris sitting beside Rachel.

**(Honeygrove: Motel room)**

After Brooke had left the room, understanding of what she'd just told him started to sink in, causing him to leap into action.

"Brooke!" he called as she removed the room key from the top of the dresser and ran through the door slamming the door shut behind him.

Mouth chased after her, flying full speed around a corner and colliding with another person.

"I'm so sorry," he said as he started to pick himself up from the floor, "I should have been looking where I was going."

Just then, the person offered Mouth a hand.

"Thanks" he said, taking it and looking up at the face of Lucas looking down at him.

"I think we need to talk." He said as he helped Mouth to his feet.


	16. Chapter 16

**(Honeygrove: Outside)**

Once Brooke was outside the motel, she ran. In that moment the only thing she wanted was to disappear, to get away from Mouth and everyone else. Mouth had mentioned that he'd been struggling with Brooke's news at the prom last night, in fact, that had been one of the reasons why Brooke had decided to tell Peyton about it.

However, Brooke had no idea how much pain and anguish she'd caused him over the recent months and finally discovering that now, devastated her. Hurting him was the last thing she'd intended when she'd told him, but now, now she wished that she could take it all back, if only to spare him the heartache he had suffered.

For a moment Brooke stopped running, tears were falling freely down her cheeks, her breaths coming hard and fast. Brooke wiped the tears from her face roughly before removing her cell phone from her pocket and entering Peyton's number.

Just as Brooke was about to connect the call, she hesitated, her finger hovering hesitantly over the send button. Brooke wondered whether Peyton felt the same way as Mouth, if she too was struggling with her news as much as Mouth was.

As much as she wanted to talk to Peyton, she refused to inflict the same emotions on her that she had on Mouth. Brooke closed her eyes momentarily and felt another tear drop down her cheek. When she next opened them she shut off her phone and returned it to her pocket, resolving that from now on she'd do this alone. It was the best thing for everyone.

Suddenly a wave of nausea hit her, and she quickly brought her hand up to her mouth in a futile attempt to stop it. She swallowed hard, hoping that it would pass, however, the feeling only intensified, causing her to lunge for the nearest trashcan to be sick.

**(Honeygrove: Bar)**

"You guys know Chris right?" Rachel said sarcastically as she took another sip of her beer.

"Unfortunately," Peyton said, scowling at Chris, remembering how he'd taken advantage of Brooke and almost destroyed Nathan and Haley's marriage.

Chris stood from where he was seated and approached Peyton smiling.

"Oh, don't be like that Blondie." He said to her jovially wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "We all know that you want some Chris Keller. You're just upset because you had to wait your turn, that's all. Don't worry though, Haley and Brooke are both in the past. It's all about you now."

Peyton struggled out of Chris embrace and slapped him hard across the face with the palm of her hand, causing Rachel and the rest of the group to laugh.

"Yep," Rachel commented matter of factly, taking another swig of her drink, "That would definitely explain Brooke's face. "

Peyton threw Rachel a confused glance before returning her gaze to Chris who was covering the side of his face protectively and smiling.

"You see," he said winking. "If that's not pent up sexual frustration I don't know what is? Why don't you let Chris Keller take care of that for you?"

As he said this Chris took another step towards Peyton in another attempt to return his arm around her shoulders.

Peyton put her hand up defensively.

"Come one step closer, and I swear the next thing I take my sexual frustration out on will be a little further south, when my knee connects with little Chris. You get me?" Peyton said with all seriousness.

"Is that a promise?" Chris answered playfully.

Peyton crossed her arms in front of her, tilting her head slightly and raising her eyebrow in a silent challenge for Chris to try it and find out.

Recognising this Chris backed off.

"Ok…" he said hesitantly before turning to Haley and noticing the size of her belly.

"Wow," he said, dragging the word out for longer than necessary and whistling shrilly. "You've really let yourself go since you got back with Nate, Haley. That's ok though, Chris Keller still loves you." He continued winking at her.

Chris noticed Nathan place his arm around Haley's waist at his last comment and smiled to himself.

"I'm pregnant you jackass," Haley said playfully as she put her hand on her stomach affectionately.

"Whatever," Chris said dismissing her comment out of hand and turning towards Nathan. "So listen, I've got another poker game coming up, you interested?"

"After last time?" Nathan laughed, "No chance."

"Oh come on Nate." Chris moaned, "We got away didn't we?"

Nathan laughed again, "I think I'll pass." He said.

Just then Chris noticed Skills looking utterly confused beside Nathan, and the smile on his face grew even wider.

Reading his thoughts, Skills laughed and said, "I don't think so dawg."

"Why not? It'll be fun, just ask Nate." Chris pleaded.

Skills looked towards Nathan who was shaking his head from side to side.

"Man I don't even know you." Skills said hurriedly in response.

"Fine," Chris said opening his arms out in front of him, "Where's Brooke?" he asked, "I'll get her to come with me."

At this Rachel laughed and almost spit out the mouthful of beer she had.

"What?" Chris said turning back to Rachel questioningly.

"Somehow I can't see Brooke going anywhere with you." She said when she'd managed to choke back the remainder of the beer in her mouth.

"Well," Chris said smugly and winking at Rachel, "That's because you haven't experienced the Chris Keller experience like she has."

"Ok gross," Rachel said frowning, "Promise me you'll never do that again."

"You felt it too huh?" Chris asked.

"What you mean that feeling of nausea?" Rachel countered causing Peyton to laugh. "Yeah, I definitely felt that."

"You're just confusing nausea with nerves," Chris said as if that explained it. "It's ok, you don't need to worry, I'll be gentle." He said moving closer towards her.

When Chris was a little nearer to Rachel she stood up slowly and stepped towards him.

"You know what?" she said quietly, her body inches from his, "Maybe you're right?"

Rachel leant even closer to Chris so that her mouth was hovering seductively beside his ear.

"I think I do feel something." She whispered to him as she slowly poured the remainder of her beer over his head.

**(Honeygrove: Motel)**

"Lucas," Mouth said in shock, "When? I mean. What are you doing here?"

"I think you know," Lucas said calmly watching Mouth closely.

Mouth averted his gaze from Lucas' as though looking for some way to escape.

"Look Lucas…" Mouth begun before Lucas cut him short.

"Which way is Rachel's room?" Lucas asked his voice even.

Mouth pointed back along the corridor mutely without looking. He'd returned his gaze to Lucas and attempted to evaluate his expression for some sign of what his friend was feeling, some hint of anger or sadness. As hard as he looked though, Mouth couldn't find any.

"Ok," Lucas said, "I'll follow you."

Mouth looked past Lucas, vainly trying to see any sign of Brooke nearby.

"Mouth is there a problem?" Lucas asked.

Mouth glanced down the corridor behind Lucas one last time, resigned to the fact that Brooke would have to wait for his apology.

"No," Mouth answered, meeting Lucas' gaze. "No problem."

With that Mouth turned and begun to make his way back to Rachel's motel room, Lucas following closely behind him.

Mouth sighed heavily as he realised that he was finally going to have the conversation with Lucas, which he'd been dreading for so long.

**(Honeygrove: Outside)**

Once the nausea had started to pass slightly, Brooke slid her back down the side of the trashcan so that she was sitting on the ground. She rested her head back against the hard metal gently and closed her eyes.

Brooke wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand before rubbing her head soothingly. She wondered how her life had become so complicated, how she had ended up sitting here alone and scared like she was.

This wasn't her. At least she didn't feel like it was. She should be stronger than this surely?

Brooke sighed heavily and started tapping her feet on the floor quickly, trying to ease the nausea which was threatening to return.

How could she be so stupid? She asked herself. Deep down she knew the effect this would have on her friends, hadn't that been why she'd chosen not to tell them in the first place? What was she supposed to do now?

She couldn't take it back, couldn't change the fact that both Peyton and Mouth knew about her illness. But she refused to watch them struggle, refused to be the person that hurt them, the person that caused them so much pain. She wouldn't put Peyton through that, not again.

Brooke knew what she needed to do. In her position on the floor, Brooke removed her cell phone once again and dialled her mother's cell phone.

Since she'd been diagnosed, Brooke had been trying to contact them, but so far her attempts had all been met with the endless ringing of an unanswered phone.

A moment later Brooke was about to give up, when for the first time in two months, she was met with her mother's answer phone message. The sound of her mother's voice after such a long absence caused Brooke to start crying again and she reached up and wiped a tear from her eye as she listened.

She hadn't planned on doing this through an answering machine, but if this was the only way that she could tell them, it was going to have to do. Finally, a beep was heard over the line, pulling Brooke from her thoughts and causing her breath to catch in her throat momentarily.

Brooke cleared it quickly before speaking.

"Hey," she said sadly down the phone. "It's... Brooke."

Brooke felt another tear slip down her cheek as she continued.

"Listen…mum," Brooke said quietly pausing for a second, her voice full of emotion. "There's something really important that I have to talk to you about, you and dad."

Brooke rubbed at her eye, suddenly losing her nerve. She couldn't tell them now, not over the phone, it wasn't fair on them. Brooke sighed heavily before speaking again.

"Could you uh…could you just give me a call when you get this message?" she asked still crying, "I just…there's something going on right now and I don't know what I should do. Please..." Brooke pleaded with them sorrowfully. "Please…just…just call me back" she sighed, "I really need you right now."

Brooke shook her head desolately as she hung up the phone once again and returned it to her pocket. She closed her eyes once more, her head still resting on the trashcan behind her and continued to sit there alone with her thoughts.


	17. Chapter 17

**(Honeygrove: Motel)**

Mouth pulled the key to Rachel's motel room out of his pocket and slowly unlocked the door. Once it was open Mouth stepped inside and walked over towards the bed. He sat down on it slowly, watching Lucas as he entered the room and closed the door gradually behind him.

When Lucas had finished he turned to face Mouth, resting his back gently against the door and folding his arms across his body casually.

Mouth looked at Lucas closely, wondering whether it was best to try and explain everything he knew about Dan or wait until Lucas asked him about it.

For a moment neither one of them said anything, the awkward silence caused Mouth to avert his gaze from Lucas and peer down at the floor in front of him.

Finally Lucas broke the silence.

"What are you doing here Mouth?" Lucas asked sighing as he moved away from the door and walked over to sit beside Mouth on the bed.

"I think you know." Mouth said quietly, shaking his head and still avoiding Lucas' eyes.

"Dan," Lucas said through gritted teeth as he stood up in front of Mouth.

At the sound of Dan's name, Mouth looked up at Lucas and nodded.

"Did he threaten you?" Lucas asked anger clearly evident in his voice.

Mouth was so surprised by Lucas' question that for a moment it had rendered him speechless.

"What?" Mouth eventually managed to ask.

"Did he threaten you?" Lucas asked again, his voice betraying the hatred he was obviously feeling towards Dan at the moment.

"Luke…" Mouth started.

Of all the possible routes this conversation could have followed, this was definitely not the one that Mouth would have anticipated. He'd been expecting Lucas to be upset with him for hiding this secret for so long, but Lucas feeling protective of Mouth had definitely come out of the blue.

Lucas was watching Mouth closely waiting for him to continue his sentence.

"Are you mad?" Mouth finally said, confusion in his words.

"Of course I'm mad Mouth," Lucas began as he paced back and forth across the room in front of where Mouth was sitting. "I just found out that everything I thought I knew about Keith's death was a complete and utter lie."

Lucas reached up and ran his hand through his hair before stopping in his tracks and turning to face Mouth once again.

"That it wasn't Jimmy that killed him, but his own brother." Lucas continued before adding finally, "My father."

Lucas sighed heavily before continuing.

"Not only that but then I find out that he's managed to chase away one of my best friends, one of the only other people that can help me bring him down."

Mouth looked at Lucas and asked his next question hesitantly.

"So, you're not angry at me?" he asked.

"Of course not," Lucas said as he approached the bed again and sat back down next to Mouth. "Why would I be?"

"Because I kept it from you." Mouth replied quietly.

"I'll be honest with you Mouth," Lucas said calmly, "When I first found out that you'd known about Dan's role in Keith's death I was upset. I was in shock and I didn't understand how someone that I considered to be my friend could have hidden something as important as that from me."

Lucas paused a moment and smiled at Mouth.

"After I'd calmed down a little, I realised that you hadn't kept it a secret to be malicious, but because you'd thought it was the right thing to do and you wanted to protect me from the truth." Lucas continued.

Mouth smiled back at Lucas and exhaled deeply, finally feeling as though a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

"How did you find out?" he asked curiously, "I mean, the only two people that know are me and Abby and…"

"I heard you," Lucas interrupted, "Last night at the prom, I heard the conversation the two of you had with Dan."

"Why didn't you say anything then?" Mouth asked.

"It was kind of a lot to take in," Lucas said laughing to himself before turning serious. "What exactly did Abby see that day?" he asked Mouth.

Mouth went on to run through the events of the school shooting, repeating everything that Abby had told him about what she saw when Keith was shot.

After Mouth had finished, Lucas sat there in silence as he tried to absorb the details Mouth had just told him. A minute later Lucas finally spoke.

"Who else knows about this?" he asked Mouth.

"Other than you, me and Abby?" Mouth said. "Just Rachel."

"You didn't tell Brooke?" Lucas asked remembering that she had been alone here with him not long before.

"No," Mouth said sadly as he recalled his earlier conversation with her. "Brooke doesn't know."

Lucas seemed to consider this for a moment, nodding his head slowly to himself.

"Ok," Lucas said. "Do you think Rachel will keep quiet?" he asked Mouth.

Mouth shrugged, "I'm not sure," he answered truthfully. "She wanted me to tell Brooke, that's why she called her and asked her to come here but now that you know, maybe she won't force it anymore."

"For the time being this stays between us, Ok?" Lucas asked Mouth. "The less people that know about this the better."

"What do we now?" Mouth asked, "I mean where do we go from here?"

"Back to Tree Hill," Lucas answered him smiling.

"I can't," Mouth, said. "Dan he'll kill me."

"So he did threaten you?" Lucas asked standing back up rage coursing through his body.

"Lucas I can't go back. He knows that it was me now, the text messages, the writing on his office wall, all of it."

"What text messages?" Lucas asked intrigued.

"Well, I knew that as long as he thought no one knew about his involvement in Keith's death he would try and get away with it." Mouth said pausing, "So I wrote murderer on his office wall and sent him some text messages, in an attempt to scare him into confessing."

"Really?" Lucas asked, this turn it was his turn to be surprised.

"Yeah, I thought that if he thought someone was onto him, he might start getting paranoid and let something slip about Keith's death." Mouth elaborated.

Lucas looked at Mouth and smiled.

"Why are you smiling?" Mouth asked Lucas questioningly as he frowned.

Lucas smiled smugly, "I know how we can make Dan pay for what he's done." He said to Mouth.

Mouth looked at him confused.

"I've got a plan." Lucas said sensing his unasked question.

**(Honeygrove: Bar)**

"What was that for?" Chris asked running his hand through his now drenched hair as the others watched on amusedly.

"No reason," Rachel said shrugging her shoulders, "I just had this 'feeling'."

With that, Rachel smiled innocently at Chris who was trying to wipe down his now wet t-shirt, before turning and walking towards the exit.

"Hey, where are you going?" Peyton asked as Rachel passed by.

Rachel paused momentarily beside Peyton.

"My motel room," she answered matter of factly, "You coming?"

Peyton glanced at her, a puzzled expression on her face.

"You're inviting me?" she asked.

"Yeah, well," Rachel begun, "You and Brooke are friends again right? Besides I guarantee you that Lucas is there talking to Mouth right now anyway."

"Mouth's here?" Haley asked despite herself.

"Yeah," Rachel replied clearly agitated by Haley but realising that she too was Mouth's friend. "You can come too if you want. Just, keep your hands off me or we'll have a problem."

With that Rachel continued to make her way towards the door, the others following behind her.

"Hey!" Chris called after them, "What about me?"

"Sorry," Rachel said turning back to face him, "but Chris Keller's not invited."

Chris threw his hands up in the air as he watched Rachel, Haley, Nathan, Peyton and Skills leave the bar and disappear onto the street outside.

**(Honeygrove: Outside)**

Peyton walked beside Rachel as they made their way up the street towards the motel, Nathan, Haley and Skills following behind them.

"So what exactly happened between you and Brooke before prom?" Rachel asked, "From what Mouth tells me she looked even worse last night then she does now."

"It's a long story," Peyton said, not really wanting to talk about her encounter with Derek.

"But whatever happened between you two, it's sorted out now right?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah," Peyton answered.

"Thank god," Rachel said. "I was starting to think the pair of you were never going to talk again."

Peyton smiled curiously at Rachel.

"Why would you even care?" Peyton asked genuinely interested.

"Well," Rachel begun, "as much of a bitch as you think I am, Brooke's still my friend. She'd never admit it, but I could tell she missed you. No one likes to see their friends unhappy. Not even me."

"Thanks Rachel." Peyton said sincerely.

"What for?" she asked.

"For being there for her." Peyton answered. "For being her friend."

"Yeah, well," Rachel, said. "Who else was I going to exchange friendly insults with?"

Peyton laughed at this and smiled at Rachel who returned the gesture.

Just when Peyton was about to say something else, she heard Haley speak behind her.

"Is that Brooke?" she asked.

Rachel and Peyton paused and looked in the direction that Haley was pointing down the street.

From where they were standing, it was difficult to make out the person sitting on the sidewalk, leaning against a trashcan, however, Peyton recognised the clothes as the same one's that Brooke had been wearing today.

"Yeah," Peyton replied.

"What's she doing?" Nathan asked.

"Maybe we should go talk to her?" Haley said stepping forward and beginning to make her way towards where Brooke was sitting.

Before she could get too far though, Peyton reached out and put her hand on Haley's shoulder stopping her from continuing.

"Hales, I'll go." Peyton said, "You guys go ahead."

"Are you sure?" Haley asked concerned.

"Yeah," Peyton answered, "we won't be long. I need to ask her about something anyway."

"Ok," Rachel said looking worriedly at Brooke, "It's room 109. Just come up when you're ready."

"Thanks." Peyton said, watching as the others entered the motel.

Peyton glanced back towards Brooke and frowned. After a moment she slowly began to make her way over to her.

**(Honeygrove: Outside)**

The nausea that Brooke had been feeling had vanished now and she'd begun to calm down a little since her conversation with Mouth. Unable to cry anymore, her tears had now dried, causing her face to feel tight and sore.

Still she couldn't herself to stand from her position on the floor, her mind occupied by a hundred different thoughts.

Just then Brooke sensed someone sit down on the road beside her.

Brooke turned to see who it was and smiled half-heartedly when she realised it was Peyton. Peyton managed to smile back before Brooke turned away from her again.

For a moment the pair of them sat there in silence, both staring into the air in front of them.

After a moment Peyton spoke.

"So…" she started tentatively, "this is fun. What do you call it?"

Brooke glanced back at Peyton and a large grin spread across her face.

"Thinking," she answered.

"You can do that?" Peyton teased.

Brooke ignored the comment instead saying, "You do realise you're sitting in the road right? You could get hit by a car or something."

Peyton shrugged dismissively, "Let's tempt fate."

Brooke laughed, "Last time you said that Nathan crashed you're car."

"Good point," Peyton said remembering.

Brooke shuffled over slightly, allowing Peyton to sit on the sidewalk beside her.

"I wouldn't want be to blamed, should anything happen to you." Brooke said as Peyton moved over.

"Nice to know," Peyton said nodding. "So, what were you thinking about?"

"Nothing really," Brooke said avoiding Peyton's questioning glance.

"No?" Peyton asked in mock surprise, "So you're ok?"

"I'm fine," Brooke said still refusing to look at Peyton. "Never better."

"Wow," Peyton said playfully putting her hands up in front of her in defeat, "I'm totally convinced."

When Brooke still didn't look at her, Peyton nudged her gently on the shoulder.

"Come on Brooke, you're going to have to do better than that." Peyton said watching her friend closely. "What's going on?"

Brooke sighed heavily before turning to look at Peyton.

"Can I ask you something?" she said hesitantly.

"Sure," Peyton answered. "Anything. No holds barred."

"Now that you know about the cancer," Brooke asked, "Do you wish that you didn't? I mean would you prefer that I hadn't told you."

For an instant Peyton seemed a little startled by the question.

"Huh, I didn't realise you'd take that literally." Peyton mused.

Peyton thought for a moment before continuing.

"Listen, Brooke," Peyton said taking Brooke's hand in hers and resting it on her knee. "Before I answer that, what's brought all this on?"

Brooke shrugged, "I was just wondering if I did the right thing by telling you. Or if it have been easier for you if you didn't know?"

Peyton rested her forehead against Brooke's and looked deep into her eyes.

"Honestly," Peyton answered. "I'm glad that you told me."

"You are?" Brooke asked sadly.

"Yeah," Peyton responded. "Brooke, if I could go back to last night and take back that you told me, I wouldn't. If anything I'd change how I reacted."

Peyton moved back a little to look at Brooke fully, her hand squeezing Brooke's tightly as she did.

"Peyton…" Brooke started, "What if I were to offer you an out?"

"An out?" Peyton asked confused.

"Yeah. What if I said that I didn't expect you to have to stand by me through this because you felt obligated to? What if I told you that you could walk away and I wouldn't hold it against you?" Brooke asked, "Would you take it?"

Peyton pulled Brooke into a tight embrace.

"Of course not," Peyton said hugging her closely. "I'm not going anywhere Brooke."

"Even though this is hard for you?" Brooke asked.

"Especially then," Peyton replied. "Brooke this is hard for me, ok? I won't lie about that, but do you know what would be even harder?"

Brooke shook her head as Peyton still held her close.

"Knowing that you were going through this alone and that I walked away to make it easier on myself, because I know that however difficult this is for me it's three times as difficult for you. I don't think I could live with myself if I did that. The only thing more painful than going through this with you would be to watch you struggle on your own."

Peyton paused momentarily.

"You're my best friend Brooke," Peyton continued, "I love you, so much. We've been through everything together."

Peyton released Brooke a moment and smiled at her.

"Not everything was easy, but we did it, together. You were my rock, through some of the most difficult times of my life Brooke. I want you to let me be yours too."

Brooke smiled at Peyton in return as she nodded her head sadly, tears forming in the corner of her eyes.

"Will you let me do that?" Peyton asked wiping a tear from Brooke's cheek. "Keep in mind that you don't really have a choice in the matter." Peyton added.

Brooke laughed.

"Sure," Brooke said, "seeing as how you asked so nicely."

"Well, it's the least I could do after you cared enough to stop me getting run over." Peyton winked.

Brooke laughed again hitting Peyton playfully on the arm. "Maybe I should have left you there?"

With that Peyton leaned forward and pulled Brooke into another warm hug.


	18. Chapter 18

**(Honeygrove: Motel Room)**

Lucas and Mouth sat beside one another on the bed whilst Lucas revealed his idea to bring down Dan and make sure that he paid for his part in Keith's death. Mouth listened on intently whilst Lucas spoke, considering everything he was saying carefully.

"So…" Lucas asked Mouth once he'd finished recalling his plan. "What do you think?"

Mouth frowned at Lucas, nodding his head slowly as he contemplated all that he'd just heard.

"It's risky," Mouth, answered. "Very risky."

"I know," Lucas agreed biting his bottom lip, "but do you think it's possible?"

Lucas paused momentarily before continuing.

"I mean, do you think that we can pull this off?" Lucas asked Mouth hesitantly.

Mouth seemed to think about this for a minute as he looked into the air in front of him. Finally, he returned his gaze to Lucas, a large grin on his face.

Mouth nodded at Lucas.

"Oh yeah," Mouth replied. "It's definitely doable."

Lucas returned Mouth's smile.

"Ok," Lucas said. "So then you're in?"

"Yeah," Mouth responded. "I'm in."

Lucas placed his hand on Mouth's shoulder and shook it gently.

"Then let's do it " he said, "for Jimmy and Keith."

Mouth nodded his head sadly.

"For Jimmy and Keith." He said quietly.

Lucas smiled at Mouth and was about to say something further when he heard the door open behind him.

Both Mouth and Lucas turned to see Rachel re-enter the room followed by Haley, Nathan and Skills.

"You two done making out?" Rachel asked, eyeing Mouth questioningly.

Mouth caught the hidden meaning behind her glance and nodded his head to inform her that him and Lucas had discussed Dan and the events of the school shooting.

Rachel smiled at Mouth and nodded before turning around and walking over to the dresser to fix herself another drink. When she reached it she discovered the still full cup that she'd given to Brooke earlier. Rachel picked the cup up and turned around to face Mouth once again.

"Did Brooke seriously turn down a free drink?" Rachel asked him.

Mouth glanced down at the floor a moment, avoiding Rachel's searching gaze.

When he looked back up at her again, Mouth shook his head slowly.

"She didn't stay very long." He said sadly.

"So you didn't get a chance to talk?" Rachel said slowly, trying to convey what she was really asking him.

"No," Mouth said.

Rachel looked between Lucas and Mouth, trying to read their expressions. Both of them were watching her closely hoping that she'd realise that they'd rather no one else knew about what Mouth had told her earlier that day.

"Oh well," she said dismissively taking a sip of the drink in her hand. "That just means that there's more for me."

Lucas released a huge sigh of relief and turned to face the rest of the group who were standing by the door, expressions of confusion on their faces.

"Ok," Skills said after a moment, "Is someone gonna tell me what's going on, 'cause right now, I don't know what the hell you's guys are talkin' bout."

Skills turned to look at Mouth before continuing.

"I mean whatcha doin' here Mouth?"

Mouth glanced between Rachel and Lucas quickly, looking for help in answering Skills question without making them suspicious. When neither Rachel nor Lucas offered anything, Mouth looked back at Skills.

Just as he was about to say something completely unconvincing, Mouth heard Rachel speak from where she was standing next to the dresser.

"I called him," she said. "Asked him to come meet me here."

Both Mouth and Lucas looked at Rachel in surprise.

"Rachel?" Mouth said.

"No, it's ok Mouth." Rachel said as she cut him off and continued. "After I got expelled I couldn't face seeing my parents so I came here instead. The only problem was that I got into a little trouble and I needed Mouth to come and bail me out."

"You got arrested?" Nathan asked curiously. "For what?"

Rachel took another sip of her drink before answering.

"Uh…" she hesitated. "Let's just say that Honeygrove saw a little too much of me. Apparently they don't look too kindly on indecent exposure."

"That's hardly surprising," Haley said unsympathetically whilst looking at Rachel. "Is there anyone that hasn't seen too much of you?"

"You jealous?" Rachel asked glaring at Haley who scowled back at her in return.

"Wait a minute," Nathan asked puzzled, "So you were arrested and Mouth came all the way here to post your bail?"

"Yeah," Rachel said taking another swig of her drink.

"With what?" Nathan asked knowing that it was unlikely that Mouth had enough money to afford something like that.

Rachel glanced at Mouth, prompting him to continue.

"I had some money saved." He said hesitantly trying to read Rachel's expression. "Uh, for college, so I used that."

"You used money for college to bail her out?" Haley asked in disbelief.

"She'll pay me back." Mouth said defensively.

He knew that Haley and Rachel weren't exactly best friends after the whole situation with the stolen calculus exam but Rachel had helped Mouth and Lucas out by covering the real reason for Mouth's visit to Honeygrove.

"I wouldn't count on it." Haley said under her breath.

"Ok," Nathan said looking at Mouth, "so that explains why you're here Mouth, but why'd you call Brooke?" he continued turning to face Rachel who was drinking from the cup in her hand.

When she'd finished Rachel answered.

"I called her to come and pick Mouth up." Rachel said convincingly. "I didn't think it fair that he had to take the bus home."

Lucas looked at the faces of Haley, Nathan and Skills and was pleased to see that they seemed to have bought Rachel's version of events.

"So everyone came all the way here thinking Mouth was in trouble, when all he needed was a ride?" Haley asked.

"Yeah well," Rachel begun smugly. "No one asked you to come did they?"

Haley was thinking about saying something to that, however, Rachel was right. Brooke had never invited any of them to come along on this trip, in fact if anything they'd forced themselves on her.

Rachel raised her eyebrow knowingly and took another sip of her drink causing Haley to roll her eyes and turn to walk out of the room.

Just as she did Haley collided with Peyton as she attempted to enter the room.

"Sorry," Haley said trying to catch her balance.

"In a rush?" Peyton asked her smiling.

Haley glanced back at Rachel before answering Peyton.

"Just need some fresh air," she replied uncaringly. "This rooms a little dirty."

"Ouch," Rachel said teasingly from where she was standing.

Haley turned back to face Peyton and asked, "Is Brooke ok?"

At the mention of Brooke's name, Mouth stood up from his position on the bed, eagerly awaiting Peyton's response.

Peyton noticed this and eyed him curiously, not knowing that he too knew about Brooke's condition. "Why don't you ask her yourself?" Peyton laughed, stepping into the room more and revealing Brooke who had been standing out of sight behind her.

Mouth watched Brooke as she too entered the room and noticed that she was purposefully trying to avoid his gaze.

"You ok?" Haley asked concerned when Brooke was in front of her.

A large smile came across Brooke's face as she answered her.

"Of course I am," she said rubbing Haley's arm. "I'm just wondering when we can get the hell out of this place?"

"Brooke?" Mouth begun walking over towards her.

Brooke put her hand up defensively, stopping Mouth in his tracks.

"Not now Mouth." Brooke said pleadingly.

"Listen Brooke…" Mouth tried again.

"Please." Brooke interrupted, "don't do this now."

The rest of the room watched the exchange enquiringly. Lucas glanced towards Peyton and saw a meaningful expression on her face. Just then he realised that she knew what was happening, that she understood the cryptic conversation that was occurring between Mouth and Brooke.

Lucas was right. From watching the reaction of Mouth to Brooke's re-emergence, Peyton had been suspicious that he'd known about her condition. At first, the exchange between them had confused her as it did the others, but thinking back to her earlier conversation with Brooke, Peyton had managed to fit the pieces together.

Brooke had been upset that she thought the news of her cancer was hurting Peyton. She'd wondered if Peyton would have preferred that Brooke not told her, but now Peyton was realising that their whole conversation had stemmed from something that Mouth had said to her.

Mouth stepped closer towards Brooke undeterred by her attempts to stop him.

"I really need to talk to you," he said. "Please Brooke, about before…"

"Mouth…" Brooke pleaded once again.

"No," Mouth continued, "Brooke this is important, ok? I need to talk to you about your…"

"Mouth!" Brooke shouted at him.

The sudden change in Brooke's tone shocked Mouth causing him to jump on the spot along with everyone else that had been watching their conversation.

Rachel looked at Brooke with concern on her face and wandered over to her.

"Brooke what's going on?" Rachel asked glancing between her and Mouth puzzled.

Mouth looked at Rachel as though he'd completely forgotten that she'd been in the room. When he looked around and noticed the others staring at him and Brooke in disbelief he finally realised what had caused Brooke to raise her voice.

He'd been so focused on apologising to her for what he'd said that he'd completely forgotten that the others were also in the room with him. Mouth dropped his head and silently cursed himself for being so stupid.

When he looked up he noticed Brooke glancing around at the inquiring faces around her. After a moment she turned back to Rachel who was still watching her worriedly.

"It's nothing," Brooke said quietly. "Let's just get out of here."

With that Brooke walked towards Peyton and pulled her car keys out of her pocket before Peyton could protest. Once the keys were in her hand, Brooke turned and left the room, leaving everyone else standing stunned behind her.

**(Honeygrove: Outside)**

Within moments of leaving the motel, Brooke was across the street and inside her car. Peyton and the rest of the group came out of the motel just as Brooke was attempting to start the car.

"Damn," Skills said, "Brooke's gone crazy."

"Is she going to leave without us?" Haley asked Peyton.

Peyton nodded whilst continuing towards the car with the others.

"It's looking that way." She said grimly.

Brooke turned the key over in the car again, desperately trying to get the engine to turn over. This time it sounded more promising and the engine finally started up.

"I thought she wasn't allowed to drive?" Nathan asked looking at Peyton.

Peyton's face fell remembering that Brooke had concussion and hurtled herself towards the car.

"Brooke!" she shouted as she reversed the car out of the parking space.

Peyton threw herself in front of the car, slamming her hands down on the hood, as the others ran after her.

"Get out of the way Peyton!" Brooke shouted at her.

Peyton shook her head, "Get out of the car!" she shouted back at her.

Brooke seemed to consider this for a moment in which time the others had reached the now stationary car.

"Brooke?" Peyton pleaded.

Brooke looked around at the others and banged her fist heavily on the steering wheel, before turning off the car engine.

Peyton walked around to the driver's door as Brooke got out and handed her the keys.

Brooke was about to continue around to the passenger seat when Peyton grabbed her arm.

"Hey," Peyton said to her. "Chill out."

"Excuse me?" Brooke questioned her.

"Brooke do you know how close Mouth was to telling everyone up there?" Peyton whispered to her. "They're already suspicious, ok, so if you really want to keep this a secret then I suggest you calm down a little bit."

Brooke looked towards the others a moment before nodding at Peyton. She slowly walked around to the other side of the car towards Rachel. At the same time as Brooke approached Rachel, Haley and the boys got into their respective cars, all of them still watching Brooke closely as they did, puzzlement evident in their expressions.

Brooke kept her eye on them for a moment before sighing heavily and turning to face Rachel.

"So," she started tentatively, "You want to go and get your stuff?"

"Are you on something?" Rachel asked raising her eyebrow accusatorily. "Because if you are can I have some?"

"What?" Brooke asked, "Rachel…"

"I didn't think so," Rachel said smiling and winking at Brooke. "You guys go ahead without me."

"Wait," Brooke asked, "You're not coming?"

"Figured it's about time I faced my parent's," Rachel said looking at Mouth as he watched their interaction from the car.

Brooke followed Rachel's gaze.

"Rachel you shouldn't have to go," Brooke started, "this is all my fault."

Brooke sighed heavily again and ran a finger through her hair, catching the wound from last night and making it ache.

Brooke winced momentarily then continued.

"I'm going to tell Haley the truth." Brooke said.

"No," Rachel told her firmly. "Brooke what's done is done. Telling her is only going to cause problems between the two of you. Besides she already hates me."

Rachel smiled at Brooke.

"Just remember me when you're a wealthy and successful designer." Rachel winked at her. "I might be tapping you up for some money."

Brooke laughed at this and her smile grew.

"So will I ever know why you called me out here?" Brooke asked laughing.

Rachel looked back at her and countered, "You ever going to tell me what that was all about with you and Mouth?"

Brooke glanced back towards Mouth quickly before answering.

"Maybe someday." She said quietly.

"Same goes for me," Rachel replied.

Rachel watched Brooke closely for a moment.

"You take care of yourself Brooke," Rachel said, still concerned for her friend and pulling her into an embrace.

"Yeah," Brooke said quietly again hugging her back. "You too."

Rachel released Brooke and smiled at her before turning around and walking back towards the motel.

Brooke watched after her as she disappeared out of sight and turned back towards the car. Once Brooke was sitting inside, Peyton turned the key to start the engine. The engine stuttered for a moment before cutting out completely.

Peyton turned the key over again, eliciting the same response as before.

"Damn it," she muttered under her breath looking at Brooke who was watching her.

Just then someone knocked on Brooke's passenger door and she opened it slowly in response.

"Well, well, well." Chris said mockingly. "Looks like you ladies aren't going anywhere just yet."

"Chris?" Brooke asked in disbelief turning to Peyton.

"Yeah baby," Chris said arrogantly, winking at her, "it's me. Looks like all those dreams you've been having since we last saw each other are finally coming true."


	19. Chapter 19

**(Honeygrove: Outside)**

"Chris?!" Brooke said again, looking at Peyton and Haley questioningly, her tone slightly higher than previously.

Peyton shrugged her shoulders as Haley sighed heavily and shook her head.

They'd forgotten that Brooke had not been with them for their earlier encounter with Chris and with everything that had happened; neither had thought to mention it to her.

"Great," Brooke said, stepping out of the car. "Could this day possibly get any worse?" she asked Haley as she let her exit the backseat of the car.

Peyton unbuckled her safety belt and popped open the hood of the car before slowly getting out of the driver's side. Once outside Peyton closed the door and leant her arms on the roof, looking at Brooke as she closed the passenger door on the opposite side.

"I'll go get Lucas to come have a look at the engine," Peyton said as she turned towards the boys' car. As she left Peyton gave Brooke a sympathetic look as Chris tried to wrap his arm around her shoulders.

Chris looked towards Haley as he pulled Brooke closer towards him.

"Didn't you tell Brooke that you'd run into me?" Chris asked Haley.

"No," Haley answered, flashing Chris a fake smile. "Actually, I was hoping that I'd imagined the whole thing."

"Haley, have you secretly been fantasizing about Chris Keller?" he asked her winking.

At this Haley rolled her eyes and looked towards Brooke who was struggling to free herself from Chris' grasp with no luck.

"Would you let go of me?" Brooke asked Chris still fighting to remove his arm from around her. "You're all wet."

"Yeah, well." Chris started tightening his hold and smiling at Brooke. "That's just how I feel when I'm around you Brooke."

Brooke cringed at Chris' words, shaking herself in an attempt to erase his last comment from her memory.

"Eurgh," she said, looking towards Haley for help. "That's something I never want you to say to me again."

Haley took a step towards Chris, throwing her hand up in front of her as she did and resting the other on her abdomen.

"Chris, come on." She said to him, "Will you let her go already?"

"No," Chris said matter of factly. "Not unless she promises to come to prom with me?"

"What?!" Brooke yelled in surprise, pausing momentarily to look at Chris.

Brooke shook her head and laughed to herself. "No. Uh uh. There's absolutely no way that I'm going anywhere with you."

Once again Brooke tried to break away from Chris.

"Oh come on Brooke," Chris said. "There's hundreds of girls that would kill to spend an evening with Chris Keller, you should consider yourself lucky."

"Yeah? Well that's because they've probably never met you." Brooke said sarcastically.

"Look, if it's anything like our last date it'll be fun." Chris said to her as if he was expecting that to sell the idea to her.

Brooke glared at him.

"You're joking right?" Brooke asked him.

Chris was about to answer her, when he noticed Lucas and the others approach from the direction of their car.

"Hmm…" he said, so that only Brooke could hear him. "It looks like this is about to interesting."

"I doubt it," Brooke said back to him. "Now would you let me go?"

"Sure," he said teasingly. "All you have to do is say 'yes' to our date."

Brooke groaned in frustration and continued her attempt to free herself.

"What's going on?" Peyton asked when she saw Brooke struggling.

"Would someone please help me?" Brooke asked pleadingly.

At this Nathan stepped forward.

"Chris, what are you doing man? Just let her go." Nathan said.

"Can everyone please calm down?" Chris asked, "I'm not hurting her. All I want is a date for prom tonight."

Chris turned towards Lucas who was staring angrily at him.

"Problem?" Chris asked him tauntingly.

Lucas didn't answer Chris, instead taking a threatening step towards him.

"Ok, fine!" Brooke said in defeat. "If I say yes will you please take your hands off me?"

"Of course," Chris said smiling arrogantly at Lucas, not realising that him and Brooke were no longer together.

"Alright," Brooke said through gritted teeth. "I'll go with you."

"See," Chris said releasing her as promised. "That wasn't so hard was it?"

Brooke scowled at Chris who turned towards the others.

"I guess you guys could come too." Chris said, meeting Lucas' gaze and gesturing towards Brooke's car. "I mean it looks you're going to be stuck here for a while anyway."

"Did you do something to my car?" Brooke suddenly asked him.

Chris ignored her question, instead maintaining eye contact with Lucas and smiling smugly at him.

"Hey!" Brooke shouted at him as she hit Chris hard in the chest.

"Ow!" Chris complained. "No. I haven't touched your car."

Chris wrapped his arm around Brooke again.

"I forgot how attractive you are when you're angry." He added throwing Lucas a glance.

"Oh please!" Brooke said, wriggling free of his embrace and turning to walk over towards Peyton.

Chris grabbed her hand gently, causing Brooke to stop.

"So about tonight?" he started.

Before he could continue any further, Lucas had his hands on Chris' shirt and had thrown him into the side of Brooke's car angrily.

Chris looked at Lucas, their face inches from each other and smiled.

"You got something you want to say?" Chris asked raising his eyebrow at Lucas. "You still sore about what happened between me and Brooke?"

The others were watching Lucas in surprise. Brooke shook her head slowly at the scene she was witnessing before her and glanced at Peyton before turning and walking away towards the motel.

"Perfect." She said under her breath as she left.

"Hey Brooke!" Chris called after her, pushing Lucas away from him and making his own way across the street.

Lucas turned towards Peyton regretfully and saw a meaningful expression on her face.

"Peyton?" he began as she turned to follow Brooke.

Lucas sighed and reached up to run a hand through his hair, before turning to meet Haley's disapproving look.


	20. Chapter 20

**(Honeygrove: Motel Room)**

Brooke burst through Rachel's motel room door, closing it quickly behind her and locking it from the inside. Once she was certain it was locked she sighed heavily and sat down on the floor in front of it, her head resting dejectedly against the hard wood.

At the sound of the door closing, Rachel appeared from the bathroom, her wash bag in hand to find Brooke rubbing at her temples, her eyes closed.

Rachel gave her a questioning look before walking over towards the bed and placing the wash bag into the open suitcase lying on it.

"Not that it's any of my business," Rachel begun, "but aren't you supposed to be on your way back to Tree Hill already?"

At the sound of Rachel's voice, Brooke opened her eyes and looked at the redhead who was now sitting on the bed beside her suitcase.

"Yeah, well," Brooke, said. "There's been a slight change of plans."

"Oh yeah?" Rachel questioned, "and what would they be?"

As if on cue, there was a loud knocking on the motel room door and Chris' voice could be heard calling from the other side of the door.

"Hey Brooke!" Chris shouted. "Open up. I know you're in there."

Brooke stood up from where she was standing and walked over towards the dresser to fix herself a drink.

"Is that Chris Keller?" Rachel asked following her.

Brooke turned around offering Rachel a drink she'd prepared for her. Rachel declined her offer, causing Brooke to shrug before knocking the contents of the cup back in one go. Brooke placed the now empty cup back on the dresser and started to take sips from her own cup.

"Brooke?" Rachel asked worriedly. "What's going on?"

Rachel glanced towards the cut on Brooke's forehead and pointed at it asking, "Should you even be drinking after that?"

"Probably not," Brooke answered taking another swig of her drink.

Rachel frowned at Brooke, and made an attempt to take the drink from her hand, however Brooke moved out of Rachel's reach.

"Brooke!" Chris called again knocking on the door as he did.

Rachel watched Brooke closely before turning and walking over towards the door. Rachel was about to open it when Brooke noticed where she was.

"What are you doing?" Brooke suddenly asked her.

"Well," Rachel asked. "If you're not going to tell me anything than, maybe Chris could enlighten me?"

"Rachel," Brooke protested, "Don't open the…"

Before Brooke could finish her sentence, Rachel had already opened the door to reveal not only Chris standing smugly in the doorframe, but also Peyton waiting directly behind him.

"Door." Brooke finished shaking her head and having another sip of her drink.

"What do you want?" Rachel asked looking directly at Chris.

"Why does everyone treat me like the bad guy?" Chris asked in mock sincerity. "I only came to tell my date what time to be ready for tonight."

Rachel glanced towards Brooke.

"You're going out with Chris?" Rachel asked in surprise.

"Unfortunately," Brooke answered picking up the tequila bottle from the dresser now that her cup was empty.

Brooke walked over towards Chris, bottle in hand and stopped just in front of him.

"What time and where?" she asked abruptly.

"Now that's the attitude Chris Keller likes to see," Chris answered pointing towards the tequila bottle in Brooke's hand. "By the looks of it tonight's already heading in the same direction as our last date."

"You have ten seconds." Brooke said placing her hand on the door ready to close it.

"Alright," Chris said defensively, "no need to go all Mariah on me. Meet me at the gazebo in town at 7.30pm. Wear something revealing," Chris added as an after thought.

Brooke was about to close the door on him when he stuck his hand out to stop her.

"Seriously though," he said winking at Peyton. "Bring the others."

Chris turned back towards Brooke and took the tequila bottle from her. He removed the cap and handed it back to her.

"Why don't you get started on that and I'll see you later?" Chris said winking at her and turning to leave.

Rachel, Brooke and Peyton all watched after him as he left. Brooke picked up a lime from the dresser and hurled it after Chris as he left. The lime hit him in the back of the head, causing Chris to turn back to Brooke and blow her a kiss before continuing on his way again.

"Argh," Brooke said in frustration, turning back into the room and flopping down onto Rachel's bed.

Rachel looked confusedly at Peyton.

"Hey Peyton," Rachel said lightly opening the door and gesturing her to enter.

"Rachel." Peyton said pleasantly as she entered the room.

Rachel closed the door behind her and turned to look at Brooke who had started drinking from the now open tequila bottle.

"Whoa," Rachel said as she stepped towards her and pulled the bottle from Brooke's hand.

"Hey," Brooke complained trying to take it back.

Rachel passed the bottle to Peyton who placed it on the dresser out of Brooke's reach.

"I'm cutting you off," Rachel said turning back to Brooke.

Brooke stuck her tongue out at Rachel and folded her arms in front of her defensively.

"Mature," Rachel commented. "Now, you going to tell me what just happened or do I have to guess?"

Peyton looked at Brooke who avoided her gaze and answered Rachel smiling.

"Guess?" Brooke said sarcastically.

"Ok then," Rachel started. "Did you tell Haley about the stolen calculus test?"

"Rachel," Brooke said in disbelief.

"What?" Rachel asked, "You told me to guess."

Brooke glanced at Peyton and saw a look of surprise on her face. Rachel followed Brooke's gaze and instantly regretted opening her mouth.

"What about the stolen calculus test?" Peyton asked looking at Brooke.

"Nothing," Rachel quickly said. "Umm… "

"Brooke?" Peyton asked before Rachel could continue. "What about the test?"

Rachel looked apologetically at Brooke and walked over to the dresser to get the bottle of tequila and offered it to Brooke.

Brooke glared at her before standing up and standing in front of Peyton.

"Ok, listen," Brooke, said playing with her hands nervously and looking towards Rachel who took a swig from the tequila bottle. "Uh, it wasn't just Rachel that stole the calculus exam papers from the tutor centre. It was me as well."

Brooke watched Peyton closely for any reaction she might have to Brooke's new confession, but Peyton just continued to look at her, her eyes level.

"I was failing calculus and I needed to pass Mr Miller's test to graduate so, I cheated." Brooke continued.

Peyton glanced towards Rachel.

"Did you cheat on the test as well?" she asked.

"Please," Rachel answered her. "I could pass calculus in my sleep."

Peyton nodded and turned back towards Brooke.

"So you let Rachel take the fall for you?" Peyton asked her.

"Uh, actually…" Rachel began, but Peyton raised her hand to cut her off.

"Brooke?" Peyton asked again.

Brooke looked between Rachel and Peyton.

"Peyton it's not what you think," Brooke said trying to explain.

"No?" Peyton asked, "because it seems pretty clear to me. You were failing calculus but instead of studying like everyone else, you stole Haley's key to the tutor centre and the exam papers and cheated on the test so that you'd graduate with everyone else. Then to top it all of you let Rachel take the blame for you."

"It's complicated…" Brooke started again.

"Everything is complicated with you Brooke," Peyton said. "Does Haley even know that you were involved?"

Brooke glanced down at the floor, silently giving Peyton her answer.

"Unbelievable," Peyton said.

"Look Peyton," Rachel said. "It's not entirely Brooke's fault, ok? I forced her into an impossible position. If anyone is to blame for this it's me not Brooke. She tried studying, but by the time I told her she was failing it was too late, and Haley was still recovering from the accident…"

Peyton looked between Brooke and Rachel.

"I'm going to tell her," Brooke said looking at Peyton and Rachel.

"No, Brooke I already told you…" Rachel said in response

"I know," Brooke cut her off looking at Peyton, "but Haley should know the truth."

"I suppose you're going to ask me to keep this to myself?" Peyton asked Brooke.

"Just until I tell her," Brooke answered. "Please Peyton?"

Peyton nodded in agreement

"Is there anything else?" Peyton asked Brooke. "I mean besides the sex tape with Nathan, the cancer and the test. Is there anything else that I should know about?"

"What?" Rachel asked looking towards Brooke stunned. "What cancer?"

Peyton hung her head and put her hand over her mouth regretfully, looking at Brooke who had her eyes closed and was running her fingers through her hair.

"Brooke?" Rachel asked looking questioningly at her, "Have you got cancer?"

Brooke opened her eyes to look at Rachel's worried expression.

"Rachel," Brooke said reaching for her arm.

Rachel backed away from Brooke a moment. Brooke glanced at Peyton who was avoiding her gaze before looking back at Rachel who was having another swig of tequila from the bottle in her hand.

"Brooke?" Rachel questioned sadly when she'd finished.

Brooke looked at Peyton once more and met her apologetic gaze. When she turned back to Rachel, Brooke nodded slowly causing Rachel to put her hand to her mouth.

Rachel took a step towards Brooke and wrapped her arms around her pulling her into a tight embrace.

Rachel was just about to say something when a knock could be heard at the motel room door.

"Peyton? Brooke?" Lucas called after his knock remained unanswered. "Are you in there?" he said knocking again. "Rachel?"

The three girls looked at each other as Lucas continued to knock on the door.


	21. Chapter 21

**(Honeygrove: Motel Room)**

"Peyton?" Lucas called again when his knocks still went unanswered.

Brooke snatched the tequila bottle from Rachel's hand and took a large swig of the liquor before Rachel pulled it out of her hands.

"I don't think you should be drinking that," Rachel said placing the bottle back on the dresser as Peyton went to open the motel room door.

"Oh please," Brooke said reaching for the bottle again, "you were practically telling me to drink earlier. What was it you said? Oh I know…"

"Ok," Rachel interrupted. "The point is I didn't know about you then."

"Know what?" Lucas said as he stood with Peyton at the door.

"Uh, nothing," Peyton said pushing him out into the hall, "We'll give you a minute." She said looking at Brooke and closing the door behind her.

Brooke was about to have some more of the tequila when Rachel placed her hand gently on top of the bottle to stop her.

"Fine," Brooke said putting the bottle back on the dresser and looking at Rachel.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me before?" Rachel asked Brooke with concern evident in her voice. "I mean, how long have you known about this?"

"Rachel," Brooke sighed sitting on the edge of the bed. "Please don't get all sentimental on me, ok?"

"Why not?" Rachel asked taking a seat next to her. "I meant what I said at the party Brooke. You're my friend and I care about you."

"Well, that's why I didn't tell you." Brooke said standing up and pacing in front of Rachel. "You'd only worry like you are now, and everything would change between us. I didn't want you to think of me any differently."

Rachel stood up and smiled, placing both her hands on Brooke's shoulders so that she was now facing her.

"Oh Brooke," Rachel started in all seriousness. "Nothing could possibly change the way I think about you. To me you're always going to be the same cheating whore that punched me in the face during midnight madness and I mean that in the nicest possible way."

"Gee thanks." Brooke said returning Rachel's smile and laughing.

"Yeah, well considering the situation I thought a compliment was in order." Rachel said winking at Brooke.

"You call that a compliment?" Brooke asked her playfully.

"Yeah." Rachel said seriously. "Don't you?"

Brooke nodded slowly, the smile on her face growing larger as she did.

"Yeah I do." She said pulling Rachel into an embrace. "You crazy bitch."

"Ok," Rachel said smiling at the familiar name. "Now we've got all the sentimental stuff out the way, are you going to talk to me or what?"

Rachel released Brooke and saw that she was nodding.

"Alright," Brooke answered quietly. "What do you want to know?"

At this, Rachel smiled and pulled Brooke down onto the bed beside her to talk.

**(Honeygrove: Outside)**

After Peyton had left Rachel and Brooke in the room, she led Lucas outside the motel and onto the street. Brooke's car was nowhere in sight along with Haley, Nathan, Mouth and Skills.

"Where are the others?" Peyton asked Lucas pointing towards where she'd last seen them.

"They called a tow truck for Brooke's car," Lucas answered her sitting down on a nearby bench and beckoning for Peyton to sit beside him.

Peyton sat down slowly, still looking to where Brooke's car was previously located.

"Nathan followed it to the garage in my car." Lucas continued.

"Why would they do that?" Peyton asked curiously.

"He didn't have what he needed to fix it on him, but he said he might have the part back at the shop." Lucas answered before pausing for a moment.

After a minute or so of silence Lucas turned to face her hesitantly. "Peyton listen…." He began.

"Lucas," Peyton interrupted. "You don't have to explain anything to me."

"I don't?" Lucas questioned uncertainly.

"No," Peyton sighed, finally turning to meet his gaze and taking his hand in hers.

"Really?" he asked again, "because you seemed upset with how I reacted towards Chris."

Peyton looked closely into Lucas' eyes and sighed once more.

"I guess I was just a little surprised that's all." Peyton answered studying his face.

"You and everyone else." Lucas agreed.

"So what happened?" Peyton asked seriously as she ran her free hand through her hair. "Were you jealous?"

Lucas looked at Peyton and for a moment didn't say anything.

"Lucas?" Peyton prompted.

"Honestly?" Lucas asked her. "I don't know. I mean when I saw them together today; it just reminded me of everything that happened between them. It reminded me of how hurt I'd been when I found them in bed together and I guess I just lost it."

Lucas paused for a moment.

"I never really got to confront him properly about it until today and all the anger I'd felt then came flooding back. Chris just winds me up that's all."

Peyton looked at Lucas questioningly.

"Are you sure that's all?" she asked him, his hand still in hers.

For a split second, Lucas hesitated. Not enough so that Peyton would notice, but just enough for him to doubt his answer. Deep down inside himself Lucas wasn't entirely convinced that was all it was.

Lucas smiled at Peyton and leant forward to kiss her lovingly on the lips.

"That's all," he said gazing into her eyes and kissing her again. "I promise."

**(Honeygrove: Lucas' Car)**

"I can't believe that we're going to be stuck here over night," Nathan said as he drove back from the garage with Haley, Mouth and Skills in Lucas' car.

"It's only one night." Haley said in response. "Besides it could be fun. I mean we could always crash that prom Brooke's going to with Chris."

Nathan smiled at Haley.

"That's true," Nathan agreed. "Last night kind of sucked, especially for Brooke and Peyton."

"And…" Haley began dreamily. "We get to spend another romantic evening together, just you, me, prom, an empty motel room…"

Haley looked at Nathan suggestively causing him to smile back at Haley mischievously.

"Hmm…" Nathan said playfully. "Maybe this won't be so bad after all."

**(Honeygrove: Motel)**

"So let me get this straight?" Rachel asked after Brooke had finished explaining her condition to her. "So far only Mouth, Peyton and me know about this?"

"Yeah," Brooke answered her nodding.

"What about your parents?" Rachel asked. "I mean, have you told them that your having surgery next week?"

Brooke glanced at the floor a moment, fidgeting with her fingers in her lap.

"Not yet," Brooke answered her quietly.

"Ok, well that settles it then." Rachel said in response as she stood up from the bed.

"Settles what?" Brooke asked.

"I'm coming back to Tree Hill with you tomorrow." Rachel said smiling.

"Rachel you don't have to do that," Brooke said standing up to face her. "What about your parents?"

"Look Brooke," Rachel began. "I'm already going to be two days later than they expected me, a few extra won't make any difference."

"It will to me," Brooke said.

"Well, you're just going to have to deal with that." Rachel said, "because I'm not going anywhere."

"Honestly Rachel, I'll be fine. You should go meet your parents on vacation. I'll still be here when you come back." Brooke argued. "Besides you're looking a little pasty, you could really do with a tan."

Rachel smiled at her last comment.

"Yeah, well maybe they could sort your ass out for you whilst you're in there?" Rachel countered.

"Hey" Brooke protested, "My ass isn't that big. At least not when it's compared to your old one anyway."

Rachel laughed at this as Brooke continued.

"Look, Rachel," she began. "Please will you go on vacation? I already feel bad enough that you got expelled for something that I did as well. It's not like I'll be alone, Peyton knows about the cancer and she'll be there after I've had the surgery."

Rachel wasn't convinced, but she knew better than to try and argue with Brooke about this.

"Fine," Rachel sighed in defeat. "I'll go, but only if you promise to call me and let me know how it went."

"I promise." Brooke said smiling at Rachel.

Rachel smiled back at Brooke.

"You know I could have won that if I'd really wanted to." Rachel said laughing and pulling Brooke into another tight embrace. "You take care of yourself Brooke." She added squeezing her even tighter.

"I will." Brooke said squeezing her back.

"No, I mean it." Rachel said in return. "Otherwise who am I going to have to insult me?"

"Don't worry Rachel, I'm sure there's plenty of people that would be willing to do that for you." Brooke replied smiling.

Rachel released Brooke from her grasp and hit her playfully on the arm.

"Yeah, but none of them would be as fun to insult back." Rachel said tauntingly pulling her into another embrace.

**(Honeygrove: Motel Corridor)**

Lucas and Peyton had been about to knock on Rachel's motel room door when they'd heard Brooke's voice on the other side of the door.

They had been standing hand in hand, in front of the door, Peyton about to knock with her free hand when it had happened.

"_**It's not like I'll be alone, Peyton knows about the cancer and she'll be there after I've had the surgery."**_

Peyton quickly glanced towards Lucas, hoping that he'd not heard what Brooke had just said, but the expression on his face clearly told her that he had.


	22. Chapter 22

**(Honeygrove: Motel Corridor)**

For a moment, Peyton and Lucas stood in silence, neither one of them saying or doing anything.

Lucas continued to stare wide eyed at Peyton, shock and concern evident in his expression. Peyton averted her gaze from Lucas momentarily to look at the door before her. As she did her thoughts turned to Brooke on the other side, who at this moment stood blissfully unaware that her secret had yet again been revealed.

Peyton glanced back towards Lucas and noticed that he was no longer watching her, instead reaching towards the door handle to enter the room.

Instantly, Peyton reached out to stop him, taking his outstretched hand in hers. When Lucas looked at her, he noticed tears were forming in the corners of her eyes, her hand shaking violently around his.

Lucas turned to her in concern, wrapping her quivering hand comfortingly in both of his. Peyton placed a hand up to her mouth and closed her eyes as a tear fell down her cheek. At this, Lucas pulled her into a soothing embrace, rubbing her back gently with his hand as Peyton buried her head into his chest and sobbed quietly.

Lucas sighed heavily and closed his eyes as he continued to rub her back reassuringly.

Suddenly, a lot of things seemed to make sense to him. Ever since last night Lucas had felt as though Peyton had been hiding something from him. At first he'd assumed that it'd been something to do with Derek, but now he understood. Peyton had been extremely concerned about Brooke this morning, for reasons Lucas hadn't fully understood, but now it all made sense.

Suddenly Lucas remembered a conversation he'd had with Mouth at prom last night.

"_**If you knew that someone that you cared about was ill and hadn't told anyone else about it, what would you do?"**_

_**Lucas looked worriedly at Mouth, "Well, it would depend. Who are we talking about?"**_

"_**I can't tell you, I'm sorry Luke, but I promised."**_

Only now did that conversation make sense to Lucas. Mouth knew about Brooke, about the cancer. It was her that he'd been talking about all along.

Lucas opened his eyes as he remembered the interaction between Mouth and Brooke earlier today in Rachel's motel room.

"_**Brooke?" Mouth begun walking over towards her.**_

_**Brooke put her hand up defensively, stopping Mouth in his tracks.**_

"_**Not now Mouth." Brooke said pleadingly.**_

"_**Listen Brooke…" Mouth tried again.**_

"_**Please." Brooke interrupted, "don't do this now."**_

"_**I really need to talk to you," he said. "Please Brooke, about before…"**_

"_**Mouth…" Brooke pleaded once again.**_

"_**No," Mouth continued, "Brooke this is important, ok? I need to talk to you about your…"**_

"_**Mouth!" Brooke shouted at him.**_

Lucas had been as puzzled as everyone else that had watched the cryptic conversation between the two, everyone but Peyton. Lucas had glanced her way briefly as Mouth and Brooke spoke and had noticed a sign of recognition on her face. Peyton had understood everything that was going on, because both her and Mouth knew the truth about Brooke and had kept it to themselves.

Lucas glanced at Peyton as she continued to sob, her head buried against his chest. In that moment Lucas wished that there were something he could say or do to comfort her, but at present his mind was busy trying to accommodate this newest revelation.

Standing there, Lucas' mind was full of unanswered questions.

How long had Brooke know about this? Did she find out before she had broken up with him? Is that why she broke up with him?

Lucas knew that it didn't matter now. He was with Peyton who he loved immensely, however, for some reason he couldn't help but wonder if Brooke had chosen to push him away because she was ill.

Lucas shook his head slowly, trying to rid himself of these thoughts. What would dragging up the past accomplish, it wouldn't change anything, would it?

Just then Lucas felt Peyton remove her head from his chest, pulling him from his thoughts. Lucas wiped a tear from Peyton's cheek with the pad of his thumb and kissed her gently on the forehead.

He knew that this must have been killing Peyton, especially after everything that she'd been through with Ellie. Brooke was her best friend, even if they'd not been on speaking terms recently. Lucas knew how much Peyton had missed having Brooke in her life. They'd been through everything together. Brooke was Peyton's rock, and vice versa.

They were a pair, each balancing the other out. Ying and Yang. Neither of their lives were the same without the other.

Lucas felt Peyton take his hand in hers and pull him down the corridor away from Rachel's motel room. Lucas glanced back towards the door momentarily as they vacated the area, Peyton doing the same as she led him away.

Once out of view of the room around a corner. Peyton sat down on the floor and leant her back gently against the wall. Lucas copied, taking a seat beside her on the floor.

Lucas watched Peyton closely as she stared at a spot on the floor in front of her. After another moment of silence, Lucas finally turned to Peyton, taking her hand in his once more.

"How long have you known?" he asked her quietly.

Peyton continued to stare at the floor as she answered.

"Since last night." Peyton answered, finally meeting Lucas' gaze.

"That's why you were so worried about her this morning?" Lucas questioned Peyton.

Peyton nodded sadly.

"Who else knows?" Lucas continued.

He realised how he must sound, but at this moment, he just had so many questions that he needed answering.

"Just Mouth and Rachel," Peyton answered. "Brooke doesn't want anyone to know."

Peyton paused a moment before adding.

"Lucas, you can't tell her that you know."

Lucas looked across at the wall in front of him. He sighed heavily before answering.

"I don't know if I can do that Peyton."

"Please Lucas," Peyton pleaded.

Lucas sighed again and ran his free hand through his hair. After a minute he began to nod slowly.

"Ok," he said quietly, visibly against the idea.

"Thank you." Peyton said relieved, quickly kissing him on the lips.

"Seriously though Peyton, how long does Brooke think that she can keep this to herself?" Lucas asked, frustration evident in his voice. "People will find out eventually."

"I know," Peyton, agreed, "I don't like it anymore than you do Lucas."

"Is she having any treatment?" Lucas asked concerned. "I mean she looks so well."

"She hasn't been." Peyton explained, "she's been carrying on as normal for the last few months."

Peyton paused a moment to wipe another tear from her cheek.

"She's having surgery next week…" Peyton began her voice hoarse from emotion.

Suddenly, the tears were flowing freely again and Peyton was overwhelmed by emotions.

Lucas pulled her into another comforting hug and whispered reassuringly in her ear.

"Brooke will be alright Peyton." Lucas said.

"You don't know that," Peyton responded.

"No," Lucas said, brushing the side of Peyton's face gently with his hand. "But Brooke would never leave you. She loves you too much for that. I mean look at recent events."

Lucas paused for a moment before continuing.

"You two weren't even really talking, but when I was in hospital after my heart attack, she came to get you from your house. Then she found you under the bridge and she told you that everything would be ok. Then there was last night…" Lucas began.

"It's not the same." Peyton interrupted sadly.

"Sure it is." Lucas said. "Peyton you and Brooke can never be too far apart. You might not be friends or together all the time, like when you've fighting, but you two could never lose each other. Not really. You and Brooke share a part of each other that neither of you can really lose. A place that no one else does."

Peyton looked at Lucas questioningly.

"Brooke is such an important part of your life Peyton, like you are in hers. You know things about each other that no one else does. You've shared memories and experiences that I will only ever hear about. "

Lucas paused for a moment, placing his hand softly over her chest above her heart.

"Peyton there's a part of your heart that will always belong to Brooke, just like there's a part of hers that belongs to you. So whatever happens in the future, she'll always be with you. No matter what. Just like I know she has been these last few months even if you weren't talking."

Peyton smiled sadly at Lucas who kissed her lightly on the forehead.

""Now I know why you're a writer," Peyton said laughing despite the tears slowly drying on her cheeks.

Lucas smiled at Peyton affectionately.

"I love you." He said staring deeply into her eyes.

"I love you too." Peyton said kissing him passionately on the lips.

**(Honeygrove: Motel Room)**

Rachel slowly closed the zip on her suitcase and stood it up on the floor beside the bed.

"You're leaving now?" Brooke asked as Rachel walked over towards her. "Aren't you going to stay tonight, I mean you've already paid for your room."

"You can have it," Rachel answered Brooke sadly. "I think it's best that I go now."

"Why?" Brooke asked.

"Wait a minute," Rachel laughed. "Before you were telling me to go and now you want me to stay?"

"Rachel, I'm going out with Chris Keller I need all the support I can get." Brooke argued smiling at her redheaded friend.

"You'll have plenty of support." Rachel said. "Besides, I don't want to give Haley another excuse to bitch slap me in public."

Brooke sighed heavily.

At this Rachel smiled playfully at her.

"Look, I know you can't possibly live without me for a couple of weeks, but I think this alone time is just what you need. You've become a bit clingy lately." Rachel said teasingly.

"Clingy?" Brooke asked laughing.

"Yeah, clingy." Rachel replied grinning widely. "I mean you always had this weird lesbian energy with Peyton and I don't want people to think that there's something going on between us. I mean I have a reputation to uphold and we are living together. People talk."

"Firstly," Brooke said holding one finger up in front of her. "If by reputation, you mean the fact that you're a slut, then I think that's intact. Secondly, who's ever going to think we're dating? I'm clearly too good for you."

"Yeah you wish," Rachel smiled, pausing momentarily.

After a minute she continued.

"Ok then, I'm leaving now." Rachel said as she took the suitcase handle in her grip. "Don't try and chase me to the bus station, that's way too desperate."

"Rachel?" Brooke asked as Rachel turned to leave.

Rachel looked at Brooke for a moment before smiling again.

"Fine," she said releasing the suitcase and walking over towards Brooke again. "But don't try and squeeze my ass, it'll only fuel the rumours."

"What?" Brooke asked laughing.

"Nothing," Rachel said pulling her into a warm hug. "Bye Brooke."

Brooke squeezed Rachel tightly in her arms before releasing her and answering.

"Goodbye Rachel." Brooke said as Rachel turned and grabbed her suitcase again.

Just before Rachel left the room, she turned to look at Brooke once more.

"Look after yourself Brooke," Rachel said seriously before turning quickly and disappearing out the door.


	23. Chapter 23

**(Honeygrove: Motel Room)**

Once Rachel had left the motel room and disappeared out of sight, Brooke had sat down slowly on the edge of the bed, her hands resting gently in her lap.

For a moment she stared around the room, sighing heavily as she did so. Rachel knew her secret now, but Brooke was convinced that she wouldn't say anything to anyone else about it. Not yet anyway.

At the moment it was Peyton that was troubling her. With everything that had happened between the two of them since last night, Brooke knew that their friendship was stronger than ever, but Peyton knew about Brooke's involvement in stealing the calculus test from the tutor centre.

Brooke decided that it was time. She'd already asked a lot of Peyton by forcing her to keep the news of her cancer to herself, she couldn't ask her to cover this up as well. Brooke needed to tell Haley about the test, no matter what the consequences. This wasn't fair on anyone, Rachel, Haley, even herself.

At the moment Brooke had other problems to deal with, she needed to get this off of her conscience before she could fully focus on those.

Just then, as Brooke continued to stare around the room, her eyes fell once again on the open tequila bottle sitting on the dresser opposite her. Brooke stared at the bottle for a moment, bringing her hand up to her head and rubbing soothingly at the cut she'd been given last night.

Brooke was just about to stand up and walk over towards the bottle, when she noticed someone standing in the doorway of her motel room, which had remained open since Rachel had left moments ago.

"Mouth?" Brooke said quietly, smiling half-heartedly at him.

Mouth stepped into the room a little more, awkwardness apparent in his body language.

"If you're looking for Rachel then she just left." Brooke said in an attempt to break the uncomfortable silence, which had fallen between them. As she spoke her voice was hoarse and quiet.

"She left?" Mouth questioned surprised. "Isn't she going to stay tonight?"

Brooke glanced back towards the tequila bottle to avoid Mouth's gaze as he approached nearer to the bed.

"No," Brooke said still staring at the bottle. "Rachel thought it would be best if she went to meet her parents now, what with Haley being here. She didn't want a repeat of their previous showdown."

For an instant, Brooke looked up at Mouth and noticed an expression of disappointment on his face, sadness almost.

"She told me to say 'goodbye' to you." Brooke offered, realising that Rachel had departed without so much as telling Mouth. "She said she'd call you once she gets there…"

"No she didn't." Mouth said continuing towards the bed and sitting beside Brooke.

Mouth turned to meet Brooke's gaze only to see that she was still not looking at him.

"Thanks though." He added after a moment.

"Yeah well…" Brooke said quietly as she nodded her head sadly.

Mouth reached out to take Brooke's hand in his own.

"Brooke," he began tentatively.

Brooke cleared her throat before quickly getting to her feet and walking over towards the dresser and away from Mouth.

When she reached the dresser, Brooke took the bottle of tequila in her hands and turned back around to face Mouth.

"Listen Mouth," she said, taking a sip from the bottle. "It's fine…really. You don't need to apologise."

Mouth stood up and started to make his way towards her.

"No I do," he said once he was in front of her. "What I said before, I…I didn't mean it."

Brooke glanced sadly towards the floor before answering, avoiding Mouth's gaze as she did.

"Sure you did." She said sadly, taking another swig of the drink and for the first time since he'd entered the room looking up to meet his eyes. "You might not have meant to say those things to me Mouth, but you meant what you said…"

"No," he said more forcefully. "Brooke, when I said those things earlier I was upset about you leaving me at prom and Shelley dumping me. Lately, I've just felt like a lot of things have been getting on top of me, like my life is slipping out of my control and I took my frustrations out on you. I should never have said what I did to you and I'm sorry"

"But you did say it Mouth." Brooke said maintaining eye contact with him.

Mouth looked at Brooke a moment, tears forming in his eyes.

"Brooke…" he began.

Brooke averted her gaze from his as she put her hand up to stop him and took another mouthful of tequila. Mouth watched her sadly, as he attempted to find the words to make Brooke understand.

Just as he was about to continue, Brooke spoke up.

"You have every right to be angry at me, for leaving you last night, and expecting you to keep what you know about me to yourself. I was being selfish when I asked you to lie to everyone for me. I guess I was only thinking about what would be easier for me. I never considered how this would affect you and I'm sorry for that." She said before glancing back up at him.

Mouth watched her closely as she continued.

"You've been a great support for me these last couple of months Mouth, and I know that I took that for granted and I'm sorry that you didn't feel like you could talk to me about the problems that you were having in your own life."

For a moment Brooke paused.

"But this is your out." She continued. "I don't want to hurt you anymore than I already have…"

"Brooke…" Mouth interrupted sadly.

"I think maybe it'll be easier for you if when we're back home, I stay out of your way for a while." She said finally.

"Don't do this." Mouth said quietly taking a step towards her.

"I'm sorry Mouth," Brooke said as she walked past him and towards the open doorway.

"Brooke," he called as she walked after her.

When he reached her, Mouth grabbed her arm, turning her around to face him again.

"Please don't push me away." Mouth pleaded.

"Mouth you said it yourself." Brooke said trying to explain. "It's been tearing you up inside to keep this to yourself. I can't take back that I told you. I wish that I could…but I can't. This is the only thing I can think of to make this easier for you."

Brooke turned to leave again but Mouth tugged once more on her arm, preventing her from leaving.

"Brooke this isn't supposed to be easy. Don't you get that?" Mouth said sternly. "If I had a chance to go back, I wouldn't. Yes, it's been difficult for me, but not because I knew about it. It's because I didn't feel like I could talk to you about it. It's because you refused to confront it, to deal with it. I didn't want to upset you."

Mouth paused a moment before continuing.

"I want to talk about it Brooke, ok? Nothing worth doing is ever easy. I bet telling Peyton wasn't easy, but you did it and I guarantee that you feel better for it now. Getting treatment won't be easy Brooke, but I want you to have it, because I don't want to lose you and admitting that to you isn't easy for me. However, it's important that I do."

Brooke looked at Mouth with tears visible in the corner of her eyes.

"You're right ok, I might have meant some of what I said, but there were also things that I didn't mean." Mouth ploughed on. "I never meant to suggest that were a bad friend to me because you left last night Brooke, because if you were you wouldn't be here right now. You wouldn't have driven two hours to come and see me."

Mouth looked at Brooke pleadingly, taking her hand in his.

"Please don't push me away. Can't we just pretend that this never happened?" Mouth asked her.

Brooke rubbed the back of her neck with her free hand and glanced down at the floor.

"No," she said after a minute.

Mouth started to release his grip from her hand and back away from Brooke, but she grabbed his hand back in hers, taking him by surprise.

Mouth looked at her questioningly.

"We can't pretend this never happened." She continued answering him. "Because you're right. I need to confront this and if you still want to I'd like you to help me."

"Of course," Mouth answered her, a large smile on his face.

Mouth took both of Brooke's hands in his own as she continued to talk.

"But from now on I want you to talk to me, not just about this but about everything that's going on in your life. No matter how small or how big."

"Deal," Mouth said, noticing the small smile that had spread across Brooke's face.

"As for treatment," Brooke added, "I'm having surgery next week."

"What made you change your mind about treatment?" Mouth asked happily.

"You did." Brooke answered him winking, "Well, you and Peyton. What you said to me at prom last night really got me thinking. You were right, I've been running scared ever since I was diagnosed, but I'm tired of being scared, Mouth. Tired of running away and pretending everything is going to be ok, I don't want to do it anymore."

"Well," Mouth said squeezing her hands in his, "I'm glad."

Brooke and Mouth stood there together, her hands in his, until Brooke pulled him into a loving embrace.


	24. Chapter 24

**(Honeygrove: Motel)**

"Hey girlie," Brooke heard Haley call as she approached the open door where her and Mouth were standing together in a warm embrace.

Brooke turned around to face her and smiled.

"You taken your happy pills now?" Haley asked jokingly. "You seemed a little intense earlier."

Brooke laughed at Haley's comment and took her hand leading her into her motel room excitedly.

"If by happy pills you mean tequila? Then yes." Brooke said cheerfully. "Where have you guys been?" she asked looking towards Nathan and Skills as they entered the room and she pulled Haley down on the bed beside her.

"We've been sorting out your damn car." Skills said playfully.

Nathan held up Brooke's car keys in his hand and she looked at him expectantly.

"We took your car to the local garage. The mechanic said it would be ready for you to pick up tomorrow." Nathan said about to throw Brooke the keys.

"How much is it going to cost me?" Brooke asked him frowning in anticipation.

At this Nathan laughed and wrapped his hand tighter around the keys in his hand.

"Geez Brooke where's the 'Oh, thanks guys, I really appreciate you sorting that out for me whilst I had a mental breakdown'." Nathan said mockingly.

Brooke looked at Nathan and laughed.

"Sorry," she said still laughing. "Thanks guys."

Brooke paused for a moment before raising her eyebrow playfully.

"So…." She said slowly, "How much did you say this was going to cost me?"

"I didn't." Nathan said throwing her the keys.

Brooke caught them.

"Ok be like that." Brooke said tauntingly looking towards Skills who was standing beside Nathan. "Skills will tell me?"

For a moment Skills just looked at Brooke pretending not to have heard what she'd said, a confused expression playing on his face.

"What?" he asked Brooke after a minute.

Brooke rolled her eyes and threw her hands up into the air in defeat.

"Forget it," she said putting on a fake pout.

At this Haley laughed.

"Umm Brooke?" she said poking her on the shoulder. "You do realise that I was there as well, don't you?"

"Of course I just assumed that you wouldn't have been listening to what the mechanic said, you know, like I wouldn't have." Brooke answered her.

"Why would you assume that?" Haley said laughing.

"Well were you?" Brooke asked excitedly.

"No," Haley said dejectedly. "Sorry. Me and Mouth were getting something to eat from the store."

"You bring me anything back?" Brooke asked putting her hands out in front of her in anticipation.

Haley looked between the other three who all searched their pockets.

"Sorry," Haley said when the search turned up empty.

"Think about it this way," Nathan suggested. "We didn't bring you any food because we were worried about you."

Brooke looked questioningly at Nathan.

"Yeah," Skills continued. "We didn't think it was a good idea to get you all hyped up on sugar…"

"Because you were acting crazy earlier." Nathan finished. "Well, I mean you always act crazy but this was like…"

"Girl interrupted kinda crazy," Skills finished.

"We were going to have you committed." Nathan said teasingly.

"Were?" Brooke asked playfully looking at Haley.

"Sure…" she said hesitantly whilst trying to keep a straight face. "Something to do with a nervous twitch in your eye or something."

Mouth walked towards Brooke a large smile on his face. He looked at her closely for a minute causing Brooke to frown at him before he finally spoke.

"You know guys," Mouth said joining in. "We might have to reconsider that decision."

"Oh yeah?" Nathan said stepping closer towards Brooke and looking at her similarly to how Mouth had only moments before.

"Yeah," Mouth answered pointing towards Brooke's right eye, "See, her eye is still twitching. That's a sign of psychosis right? I mean she could just snap at any moment."

"Definitely," Haley added laughing.

"Ok," Brooke said standing up and hitting Mouth playfully on the arm before turning towards Nathan and doing the same thing to him.

Both of them erupted into laughter whilst Brooke made a move to hit Skills who was also laughing.

Just then, Peyton and Lucas entered the motel door behind Skills.

"What's going on?" Lucas asked when he noticed everyone laughing.

"Brooke was just proving our point." Nathan said matter of factly.

"What point?" Peyton asked interestedly.

"They think I'm crazy." Brooke answered her.

"They needed proof of that?" she asked incredulously. "Most people can tell just by looking at you."

"Ouch, P.Sawyer," Brooke said in mock insult. "That hurt."

"Are you sure you're not imagining things?" Peyton asked her mockingly. "You know unfounded feelings of pain, taunting voices that kind of thing."

"I'll give you unfounded feelings of pain." Brooke said teasingly hitting Peyton across the back of the head lightly with her hand and causing everyone to laugh. Everyone except Lucas who was watching Brooke closely.

Now that he knew about the cancer, he felt it odd to see Brooke acting so normal. In some ways it made it even more difficult for him to believe what he'd recently found out. If he hadn't heard her say it with his own ears he would never have believed it.

"Ouch that hurt." Peyton said playfully.

"You're such a wuss." Brooke accused jokingly.

"Am not." Peyton said hitting her back on the arm.

"Are too." Brooke said defiantly.

"Ok…" Haley said standing up and wrapping an arm around both Peyton and Brooke's waist. "Let's focus for a minute."

Peyton stuck her tongue out at Brooke causing her to laugh along with Haley.

"We thought," Haley said looking at Brooke seriously, "that you could probably do with some company on this date of yours tonight."

"Seriously?" Brooke asked eagerly whilst pulling on Haley's sleeve. "Thank you so much."

"Yeah well," Haley said pretending to ignore Brooke's excitement. "We figured that prom pretty much sucked for everyone here and who knows? It could be fun right?"

"Oh my god, this is so awesome!" Brooke screamed excitedly as she hugged Haley tightly.

"Brooke," Haley said breathless, tapping Brooke gently on the back. "Could you ease up a little? I can't breathe and this probably isn't good for the baby."

"Oh god," Brooke said seriously, releasing Haley from her embrace. "I'm so sorry."

Haley smiled at her.

"Ok," Peyton said wrapping her arm around Brooke's shoulders. "Has anyone thought about where we're all going to stay tonight?"

"Well I'm already sorted." Brooke said pointing around the room. "The room's paid up until tomorrow and Rachel left me the key."

"Rachel's gone?" Haley asked, her grin widening as she did.

Brooke glanced awkwardly at Peyton before answering.

"Yeah, she's gone to meet her parents on vacation." Brooke said tentatively.

"Well then, tonight's already looking up." Haley responded.

"Now all we need to do is find a way to get rid of Chris." Brooke said to no one in particular.

Peyton cleared her throat to get both Haley and Brooke's attention before speaking again.

"Ok…" she said changing the subject. "So what about rooms?"

"Right," Haley said remembering the original purpose of their conversation. "Well once we realised that Brooke's car wouldn't be fixed until tomorrow, we booked a couple of rooms here for all of us."

"How many is a couple?" Peyton asked.

"Two." Haley responded.

"You booked two rooms for seven of us?" Lucas asked laughing. "Where are we all going to sleep?"

"On the floor if your not careful," Haley said tauntingly before continuing. "Actually we thought Brooke would stay in here with Rachel, me and Nathan could share one and the rest of you could share the two bedroom."

"Wait so now I'm all alone in here?" Brooke asked Haley worriedly.

"I guess so." Haley said shrugging.

Nathan noticed the horrified expression on Brooke's face and laughed to himself.

"Are you scared?" he asked her smiling.

"Yeah," Brooke answered.

The rest of the group laughed exchanging comical expressions at Brooke's response. Everyone that is, except for Peyton.

Aside from worrying about Brooke once she'd returned to Lucas' house last night, Peyton's sleep had also been disturbed by nightmares of Derek and the events that had played out at her house last night.

Peyton had not asked Brooke whether she'd experienced the same thing. She knew that Brooke would rather lie and joke than reveal that she was truly scared.

"Look, I'm a good looking girl spending the night alone in a small town motel room." Brooke said calmly.

"And modest," Nathan joked.

"That definately sounds like a bad horror movie to me." Peyton offered her.

"Thank you." Brooke said enthusiastically pointing at Peyton with her finger. "Please don't make me stay in here alone." She pleaded. "Please."

Everyone looked at her for a moment in silence.

Peyton glanced at Lucas for a moment, wordlessly asking a question with the look she gave him.

Lucas smiled at her and nodded.

"I'll stay with you B. Davis." Peyton said pulling Brooke closer to her side.

"You will," Brooke asked excitedly.

"Sure," Peyton answered her.

"Awesome," Brooke said clapping her hands. "Oh you know what we can do? We can…"

"No," Peyton cut her off.

"Wait a minute, you don't even know what I was going to say." Brooke complained.

Peyton laughed.

"Yeah I do," Peyton, said, "Just because we haven't been around each other for a while, doesn't mean that I've forgotten what you're like…the answers still no."

"Oh come on Peyton it'll be fun!" Brooke pleaded.

Peyton looked at Brooke for a minute and saw her pouting.

"Ok, I'll think about it." Peyton relented. "But I'm not promising anything."

Peyton saw a large smile spread across Brooke's face combined with the confused expressions of the other's in the room.

"It's a long story." She said laughing before turning to Brooke again and saying. "Now the more important question is what are we going to wear to this thing?"

Brooke shrugged her shoulders and frowned at Peyton.

"Preferably not a dress that says 'whore'," Brooke suggested. "Or one that's covered in blood," she added quickly.

"Huh?" Peyton said feigning puzzlement. "So no blood and no expletives. I don't think I own anything of that description. This might call for some shopping."

"Shopping?" Brooke questioned eagerly.

"I think so." Peyton answered grabbing Haley by the arm and pulling both her and Brooke towards the motel room door.

"I love shopping!" Brooke exclaimed as they left the room, the boys following closely behind them.


	25. Chapter 25

**(Honeygrove: Brooke's Motel Room)**

The gang had returned from town a few hours ago having purchased their outfits for prom at a local thrift shop.

It was half an hour until Brooke had to meet Chris at the gazebo in town and her and Peyton were getting ready in their room.

"Hey," Peyton said appearing from the bathroom in her ankle length baby blue dress. "How do I look?"

"Definitely better than last night." Brooke said shrugging as she finished applying her make up in the mirror above the dresser.

"Thanks for that amazing piece of insight B. Davis" Peyton said laughing. "I guess I can take it as a compliment though."

"Yeah, you totally should." Brooke replied and she turned to face her after finishing putting her mascara on. "You look almost as good as me."

"I don't know," Peyton said looking Brooke over. "You don't look that great, I mean there's something missing from this picture…I can't quite put my finger on it."

"I know" Brooke said picking up the bottle of tequila on the dresser and finishing off the last little bit. "Tequila."

"Firstly," Peyton began, "I'm not sure you should have been drinking what with you having concussion and everything and secondly, that's not what I was getting at."

Brooke turned to study herself in the mirror.

"What are you talking about," Brooke said looking at the low cut, aqua green dress she had purchased earlier. "I look good."

"It just doesn't look right." Peyton said looking at Brooke again.

After a moment of silence Peyton suddenly clicked her fingers.

"I know," she said as though it had just come to her. "There's nothing written on it. That's blasphemy you know. If you want I could sort that out for you."

Brooke looked at Peyton who winked at her in return.

"I think I'll pass," Brooke answered her smiling.

"Well, why don't you think about it some more whilst I go and talk to Haley." Peyton said walking towards the door and opening it.

"About what?" Brooke asked Peyton anxiously.

"Don't worry it's not about the test," Peyton reassured Brooke, sensing the tone in her voice. "I just want to borrow something from her."

"Oh yeah," Brooke said raising her eyebrow playfully. "Like what?"

Peyton recognising Brooke's expression, frowned.

"Ok?" Peyton said. "How could you possibly interpret that as being dirty?"

Brooke frowned a moment before answering.

"I don't know." She answered honestly.

Peyton laughed.

"Right, I'm going to leave now." Peyton said to Brooke as she left, "See you in a minute."

Brooke laughed to herself as she continued to apply her make up in the mirror over the dresser.

A few minutes later Brooke heard a light knock on the motel room door. She walked over to open it and found Lucas standing in a white tuxedo jacket with black pants.

"Lucas," Brooke said. "Uh… Peyton's not here. She's gone to see Haley."

"Good," Lucas said in return. "I was actually hoping to talk to you alone. If that's ok?"

"Uh…sure." Brooke answered hesitantly, gesturing for Lucas to come in.

Once he had stepped inside Brooke closed the door and looked and him questioningly as he stared at her.

"So…" Brooke pushed when Lucas continued to stare at her, still not speaking. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Right," Lucas said suddenly pulled from his thoughts. "Listen Brooke, I just wanted to apologise for what I said to you at prom last night. About how I reacted when I thought that you'd had an abortion."

For a moment Brooke averted her gaze from Lucas.

"Yeah well…" she said turning to look back at him. "Consider it forgotten. I think we all said some things last night that we regret now."

Lucas looked at Brooke for a moment, watching her closely.

"Brooke, we're friends right?" Lucas asked her probingly.

"Sure," Brooke said quietly looking at Lucas.

"And you know that you can always come and talk to me if you need to? About anything." Lucas continued.

Brooke nodded at him sadly.

"Yeah I know that Lucas." She said quietly.

For a moment neither of them said anything, an awkward silence falling over them.

Finally, Lucas broke it.

"About earlier." Lucas began tentatively, "and how I reacted to Chris."

Brooke put her hand up in front of her to stop him.

"Please don't say anything else," she said shaking her head. "Let's just forget about it."

"Brooke…" Lucas said.

"No, see that…that's saying something else." She interrupted him smiling.

Lucas laughed and put his hands up in defeat.

"Ok," he said. "You win as always."

Brooke laughed and hit him playfully on the arm.

"Ow," he moaned. "What was that for?"

"That Lucas Scott is for being a jerk." Brooke said teasingly. "And insinuating that I'm some spoiled little rich girl that gets everything she wants."

"Well, aren't you?" he asked jokingly.

Brooke hit him on the arm again.

"Ouch!" he complained.

"No I am not!" she said defensively.

"Ok, ok. You're not spoilt, will you stop hitting me now?" Lucas said placing his hands up to protect himself from her next attack.

Brooke nodded and folded her arms in front of her body.

"Fine." She said sweetly.

"Thank you." Lucas said laughing at her. "Now I can finish what I came in here to say."

"There's more?" Brooke questioned.

"Yes," he said. "I just wanted to thank you for what you did for Peyton last night. For being there for her."

Lucas paused a moment and sighed.

"For saving her." Lucas finished.

"You don't need to thank me for that." Brooke said honestly.

"Maybe not," Lucas said. "But I wanted to."

"Well I couldn't really leave her." Brooke joked. "I mean she is my ho after all?"

"Who's your ho?" Peyton asked as she entered the room with the others close behind her.

"You are Blondie," Brooke said wrapping her arm around Peyton's waist.

"Does that mean I get paid to hang out with you now?" Peyton asked.

"Ok," Brooke said. "But I'm your ho which means that you have to pay me too."

Peyton thought for a moment before saying, "Call it even?"

"Sure," Brooke said smiling at her.

Haley cleared her throat beside them causing both Peyton and Brooke to turn and face her.

"Um guys?" she questioned pointing at herself.

"Oh, don't worry ex-roommate." Brooke said wrapping her other arm around her. "You're my ho too."

"And mine." Peyton agreed.

"Hales?" Lucas asked, pretending to be hurt. "I thought you were my ho?"

"What?" Skills asked looking at Haley. "Hey mama, you said that you was my ho."

"Yeah, and we all know that you're my ho," Nathan said kissing Haley on the lips.

"Wow and I thought I was a big ho," Brooke said playfully.

Haley pushed Brooke gently on the side, causing her to stumble.

"You're just jealous," Haley teased grabbing Brooke by the arm and pulling her through the door. "And trying to delay the inevitable."

"Do I really have to go through with this?" Brooke asked. "I mean its Chris, as long as there's a mirror for him to look into he won't even notice that I'm missing."

Haley laughed at Brooke's comment before answering.

"You have to come because you're our ticket in." Haley said as the others followed them down the corridor, Lucas and Peyton arm in arm. "Now come on girlie its time."


	26. Chapter 26

**(Honeygrove: Town)**

Chris stood slowly as Brooke and the rest of the group approached the gazebo in town where he was sitting. As they neared, he noticed Peyton and Lucas hand in hand, talking animatedly with each other. Chris smiled smugly to himself at the sight before glancing back towards Brooke.

Chris stepped down from the gazebo when they were only a few feet away and walked up to meet Brooke, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

Brooke took his arm and removed it from around her, dropping it back down to his side.

"Ok," she said bluntly once his arm was no longer around her. "Let's get one thing straight right now. Tonight there will be no wrapping your arm around me, no taking hold of my hand, no pats on the ass. In fact…" she said thinking about it for a moment. "There will be no touching or contact of any kind. You got it?"

"I love it when you get all domineering like that," Chris said raising his eyebrow suggestively at Brooke and causing her to throw her hands up in frustration.

Chris bit his bottom lip and stared at Brooke for a moment before closing his eyes tightly.

"What are you doing?" Brooke asked him as she watched.

"Just picturing you naked." Chris said smiling to himself, his eyes still closed. "Umm hmm." He moaned as he licked his lips.

Brooke stood looking at him, her mouth agape as Chris continued, finally opening his eyes and peering down at her pelvis.

"Maybe later, you'll let me get another glance at that tattoo." He said. "You did carry on drinking once I'd left earlier didn't you?"

For a moment, Brooke was too stunned to answer.

"That's ok," Chris continued pulling a flask out of his tuxedo jacket pocket, "It just so happens that I came prepared."

Brooke snatched the flask from him before slapping him square across the face with her free hand.

Chris smiled arrogantly at her.

"Now that's more like it," he said trying to take the flask back from her.

Brooke moved it out of his reach before putting it away in her purse.

"Ok, I'm outta here." She said making her way back in the direction of the motel.

Chris chased after her and grabbed her arm.

"Why does everyone keep doing that?" she asked in frustration as Chris spun her around to face him.

"Now, now," he said seriously. "You wouldn't want to disappoint your friends would you?"

Chris glanced back towards the others, Brooke following his gaze.

From where she was standing, Brooke saw them all watching her expectantly.

"Fine," she said through gritted teeth looking up at Chris.

Chris nodded victoriously and grabbed Brooke by the arm, leading her back to the group.

"Brooke's had a change of heart." He said when they were back with the others.

Peyton flashed Brooke a sympathetic look.

"Shall we go?" Chris asked them.

"Ok, I have to ask." Haley responded. "Aren't you a little old to be going to a high school prom?"

"Yeah grandpa," Brooke asked smiling. "Aren't you missing gardener's world or something?"

"I'm taping it." Chris answered looking at Brooke quickly before turning to Haley. "In answer to your question," he continued. "No. See the school won a competition for Chris Keller to perform tonight, and Chris Keller never turns down the chance to perform in front of a large group of teenage girls. Especially teenage girls that are horny for Chris Keller." He added winking.

"Oh please," Brooke said under her breath.

"Jealous?" he asked her.

"No, they're welcome to you." Brooke answered him. "Now can we please get this over with?"

"Well seeing as you asked so nicely," he said taking her arm in his. "Follow me."

Chris led the way towards Honeygrove High School, where loud music could be heard blaring from the inside.

Once they reached the entrance, Chris introduced himself to the person standing on the door, glancing back towards the others behind him and adding, "Their with me."

The man on the door nodded and allowed them all into the school gym, which was decorated extravagantly for the occasion.

One they were all inside, Chris turned to the group and spread his arms out in front of him as though giving a guided tour.

"Welcome to prom." He said smiling smugly.

**

* * *

****(Cannonball– Damien Rice is playing)**

Once they'd entered the prom, the song suddenly changed and Lucas noticed couples dancing together slowly to the music.

Lucas turned to Peyton and smiled at her lovingly.

"Would you like to dance?" he asked her squeezing her hand in his.

Peyton smiled back at him.

"What's in it for me?" she asked him playfully.

Lucas leant forward and gave Peyton a quick passionate kiss before pulling away and gazing into her eyes.

Peyton smiled at him, before pulling on his sleeve and leading him out onto the dance floor.

The others watched as they left, Chris looking at Brooke closely for her reaction.

Nathan turned to Haley as she watched Lucas and Peyton dancing slowly together, Lucas' arms wrapped around Peyton warmly as her head rested gently on his chest.

"What do you say?" Nathan asked extending his hand to Haley. "Do you want to share a dance with your husband?"

Haley looked at Nathan and smiled, placing her hand in his.

"Definitely." She said as they walked onto the floor together.

As they left, Chris looked towards Brooke raising his eyebrow at her in a silent invitation.

Brooke groaned when she noticed this and leaned forward to grab the front of Mouth's blue tuxedo jacket, pulling him towards the direction of the others and leaving Skills standing alone with Chris.

Chris looked at Skills as he watched the others dancing together.

When Skills turned back to face Chris he noticed him watching him and spoke.

"Uh uh," Skills said in all seriousness. "Don't even think about it."

* * *

Lucas looked down at the sight of Peyton resting her head gently on his chest and smiled.

He removed one of his hands from around her waist and brushed the side of her face softly with it, causing Peyton to remove her head from it's position on his chest to meet his gaze.

"What?" she asked noticing the smile on his face and feeling one spread across her own.

"Nothing." He said still smiling. "I was just thinking how beautiful you look tonight."

Peyton's smile grew even wider and Lucas leant down to kiss her again.

* * *

Nathan and Haley were dancing together to the music. He had his arms wrapped around her waist as she nuzzled her head into his shoulder and placed her arms in the small of his back.

"This is nice." Haley said quietly as they danced slowly together.

"Yeah," Nathan agreed kissing her on the forehead gently. "It is."

Haley glanced up at Nathan and smiled.

"Do you think it'll always be like this?" She asked him. "I mean, do you think we'll always be like this?"

Nathan pulled Haley closer towards him, enveloping her in his arms further.

"I don't know," Nathan said honestly.

Haley looked at him questioningly, causing Nathan to smile back at her.

"What I do know," he continued resting his chin against the top of Haley's head gently, "Is that I could dance with you forever…"

Haley smiled to herself and looked up to meet Nathan's gaze.

"…And that I love you," He finished.

Haley removed her head from his shoulder and placed her hand behind Nathan's neck, looking into his eyes.

"I love you too." She said before pulling his face down towards her and kissing him.

* * *

As they danced together Brooke noticed Mouth staring into space over her right shoulder.

She frowned for a moment before leaning forward and resting her forehead against his, pulling him from his thoughts.

"Where are you?" she asked looking into his eyes.

Mouth met her gaze as he spoke.

"What do you mean?" he asked her.

"I mean," she said quietly. "What were you thinking about?"

Mouth didn't answer her as they continued to dance and Brooke removed her head from his.

"Are you okay?" she asked him, concern on her face.

"Yeah," Mouth said half-heartedly smiling at her.

"So talk to me," she said. "What were you thinking about?"

Mouth smiled at her warmly.

"You really want to know?" he asked her.

Brooke nodded, smiling back at him.

"Ok," he said. "I was thinking about you."

"Me?" she asked laughing. "What about me?"

"Just remembering the first time we danced, that's all." He answered her. "Remembering how we met, and things that we've done together since we became friends."

Brooke looked at him curiously.

"Why?" she asked him interestedly.

"Because those memories make me smile." He said. "Meeting you that day at the River Court was the moment that my life changed."

Brooke stared into his eyes for a moment before asking, "In what way?"

"In every way," he answered. "Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if you hadn't spoken to me that day. I wonder if I'd have ended up like Jimmy."

Brooke looked at Mouth sadly as he continued.

"I wonder if I would have been forgotten like him," he clarified. "If Lucas would have left me behind as well."

"Mouth…" Brooke began but he quickly interrupted her.

"Brooke you were the one that kept me and Lucas together. You introduced me to your world, accepted me as your friend. What if it had been Jimmy that day?" he asked sadly. "Do you think that we'd still be having this conversation?"

"I don't know," Brooke answered. "I think that things happen for a reason. That people who are supposed to be in each other's lives will find a way somehow. If it hadn't been that day Mouth, I think it would have been another."

Mouth looked at Brooke as he spoke.

"Do you honestly believe that?" he asked her seriously. "That there's some higher power that brings people together."

"All I know is," Brooke began, "that I'm glad that we met that day because you changed my life too."

Brooke paused for a moment.

"I don't want to imagine what might have been if things had been different." She continued pulling him into a warm embrace. "Because all I know is that my life would have been so much emptier without you in it."

Mouth wrapped his arms around Brooke tighter, hugging her warmly back and smiling as she rested her head over his shoulder.


	27. Chapter 27

**(Honeygrove: Prom-The Road I'm on by 3 Doors Down is playing)**

The gang had been at prom for around an hour. After Brooke and Mouth had shared a dance earlier, Chris had approached the pair of them amongst the multitude of teenagers in the gym and stepped in between them.

Since then, Brooke had spent the majority of the evening with Chris and to her surprise she'd found that she'd actually enjoyed his company. Away from the rest of the group, Brooke had discovered that Chris could hold a meaningful conversation, that he wasn't just the arrogant rock star that she'd originally pictured him as and that he could in fact be a good friend, once you got to know him.

Brooke and Chris had been sharing a dance together when he'd finally decided to broach the subject of Lucas and Peyton with her.

"Ok," he said as they danced together, nodding his head in the direction of Peyton and Lucas who were dancing together across the room. "So what's the deal with those two?"

Brooke laughed at his choice of question.

"The deal?" she asked him following his gaze.

"Yeah the deal." Chris answered her. "You know, when did the big switch happen? When did they finally get together?"

"Why don't you say what you're really asking?" Brooke questioned him meeting his gaze and smiling.

"And what would that be exactly?" he asked her.

"Are you going to answer every question with another one?" Brooke said laughing.

"Are you?" he replied winking at her.

Brooke rolled her eyes before continuing.

"If it helps to deflate your enormous ego, me and Lucas didn't break up because of you." She informed him.

"I don't believe you." Chris said playfully. "I mean do you seriously expect me to believe that our night together wasn't the reason you two broke up?"

"It wasn't." Brooke responded. "In fact, I barely remember that night."

"But you do remember it a little?" Chris said tauntingly.

"I remember wanting to kick you in the…"

"Ok," Chris interrupted her. "So then what did happen if it wasn't the memory of Chris Keller, that split you up?"

"Why do you want to know?" Brooke asked him suspiciously.

"I'm just curious that's all. Personally, I still think that you can remember our night together but you're in denial. In fact, you remember it so vividly that to this day it still causes this unexplained desire within you." Chris said raising his eyebrow mischievously at her.

"Yeah the desire to punch you in the face." Brooke laughed.

"You know you're more violent than I remember. I kind of like that." Chris said in response.

Chris paused for a moment before continuing with his earlier point.

"Anyway, I think that Lucas couldn't compare to me, if you know what I mean and that's why you broke up, because he was constantly living in my shadow." Chris finished.

"Has your ego always been this big?" Brooke asked him.

"Are you going to avoid the question all night?" Chris countered her.

"Fine," Brooke said in defeat. "If you must know, me and Lucas got back together after the horrible mess that I like to call you and were going well for a while."

"So then what happened?" Chris asked her, genuinely interested.

"A lot of different things," Brooke answered him. "Nothing was the same after the school shooting. I guess we just grew apart."

"What that's it?" Chris asked surprised. "You grew apart and had an amicable separation and then you just let your best friend date your ex? No girl on girl fight or anything? Brooke that is seriously ruining my image of you, not to mention the fantasy that I've been having about you and Blondie rolling around on the floor wearing nothing completely covered in mud."

Brooke hit Chris playfully on the arm.

"Would you stop with that already?" she asked him. "To be honest me and Peyton haven't been friends for a while. We only made up last night."

Chris looked at her and Brooke could read the silent question in his expression.

"Yes there was fighting, ok?" Brooke said to him. "And before you say anything there was no nudity."

"What about partial nudity?" Chris asked her jokingly.

"No," Brooke answered quickly.

"Come on Brooke," Chris pleaded. "Can't you just pretend?"

Chris noticed her expression.

"Ok," he said to her. "I'll make you a deal. If you embellish a little bit for me, then I promise to do something fun with you afterwards."

"Does it involve touching or contact of any form?" Brooke asked him tauntingly.

"Unfortunately not," he said. "But it definitely has the potential for it?"

Brooke seemed to consider his offer for a moment before answering.

"Ok deal." Brooke said to him.

**(The Pieces Don't Fit Anymore-James Morrison is playing)**

Lucas and Peyton had spent the majority of the evening since they'd arrived at prom in each other's company making up for the time they'd lost at their own prom.

At present they were dancing together on among the rest of the teenage couples around them. Lucas had him arms wrapped around Peyton's waist whilst she rested her head against his chest.

Through his tuxedo jacket she could hear his heart beating and the sound of it made her smile warmly. She could feel her heart pounding gently in her own chest, filling the empty beats between the sounds of his.

Lucas had his eyes closed as he rested the bottom of his chin against Peyton's head.

After a moment, Lucas opened his eyes and kissed Peyton gently on the forehead causing her to look up into his loving gaze.

Lucas smiled at her warmly.

"Are you having a good time?" he asked her after a moment.

"Yeah," Peyton answered him smiling as well. "Everything just seems so perfect tonight. It's like this is how it should always be."

"What do you mean?" Lucas asked interestedly.

"Look around Lucas," Peyton said smiling at him. "Almost all the people that are important to me are under the same roof, at the same time, all of them enjoying themselves, all of them talking. Everyone's happy."

Lucas kissed Peyton deeply on the lips and she returned it passionately.

When they separated Lucas smiled at her.

"You're right." He said softly. "Everything's perfect."

Peyton smiled at him again as they continued to dance.

"It's strange," Peyton said after a while. "If you'd have asked me two days ago what I thought we'd be doing this weekend. I would never have guessed this."

"I would have," Lucas said playfully.

"No you wouldn't," Peyton replied hitting him lightly on the shoulder.

"Ok, maybe I wouldn't have predicted this exactly." Lucas started. "More like I would have hoped for this."

Lucas paused for a moment before continuing.

"Honestly, I can't think of anything better than spending an evening with all my friends and the girl that I love." Lucas said.

"Me neither." Peyton continued looking towards where Brooke was standing with Chris over at the refreshment table. To her surprise, it appeared that she was actually enjoying herself.

"This is what it's all about." Lucas said following her gaze towards Brooke and reaching up to brush the side of her face gently.

Peyton looked back towards him and smiled sadly.

"What?" Peyton asked quietly.

"Life," Lucas answered her.

Peyton looked at him slightly confused causing Lucas to embellish.

"Life's short Peyton." Lucas continued looking back towards Brooke. "Too short to spend it dwelling on the all the unpleasantness that it can bring."

"I think I know what you mean," Peyton said following his gaze over to Brooke.

Peyton hadn't thought about it before, but hearing Lucas' words now struck a chord with her. Only last night, she'd been fighting for her life at the hands of Derek. Yet here she was now enjoying a wonderful evening with the people she cared about.

She realised that she could have spent today reliving the events of last night, going over every detail of what had happened again and again. But what would the purpose of that be?

If Peyton was honest with herself, that's probably how she would have reacted to Derek's attack last night. She probably would have locked herself up in her room and hidden under the covers.

Brooke had unintentionally prevented that. Her news had meant that Peyton hadn't dwelled on it, that she'd had to push it to the back of her mind and because of that Peyton was now dancing in the arms of the person she loved, content with life and happy in this moment.

Peyton wondered if that's why Brooke had kept her secret so long. For once she finally thought she understood where her best friend had been coming from when she'd refused treatment. Brooke hadn't been giving up, not exactly. She'd been enjoying life, living it whilst she could instead of dwelling on the fact that it could all soon be over.

Lucas speaking interrupted Peyton from her thoughts.

"You do?" he asked her.

"Yeah," Peyton answered. "It's like you said earlier today, outside of Karen's. If you spend all your time worrying about the future, you'll miss what's happening in the moment. I guess the reverse is true as well. That if you spend too much time troubling over things that have already happened, about things that you can't change, you're going to miss out on moments like these and that would be a shame, because its these moments that you should remember."

Lucas smiled affectionately at Peyton before leaning down and kissing her passionately on the lips. For a moment they stay entwined, their lips wordlessly conveying how they both felt about each other.

When the stopped, Lucas decided that he wanted to express it out loud anyway.

"I love you Peyton Sawyer." Lucas said kissing her quickly on the lips again.

"I love you too." Peyton answered resting her head back against his chest as they continued to dance slowly together.

**(Elsewhere at prom)**

After sharing some dances together, Haley's leg had begun to ache and so both her and Nathan had gone to sit with Skills and Mouth at one of the nearby tables.

When they'd reached them, Skills and Mouth had been talking animatedly about something, which had caused them both to break out into a fit of laughter.

"What's so funny?" Nathan asked as he pulled a chair out for Haley to sit in.

Once Haley had taken her seat, Nathan pulled the chair next to it out and sat beside her.

"We were just trying to decide what our funniest memory of high school was." Mouth answered him.

"What did you decide?" Haley asked curiously.

"Nothing yet," Skills answered her. "There's been way too many to just pick one."

"Well, what have you got so far?" Nathan asked them intrigued.

"Ok," Mouth filled them in. "Well there's dare night…"

"Stripping," Skills added pointing at Nathan.

"The fantasy boy draft date," Mouth continued.

"My bachelorette party." Haley said suddenly. "Well, what I can remember of it anyway."

Nathan laughed at her before adding one of his own.

"Then I have to include my bachelor party," he said. "I'll never forget Tim getting turned on as he was arrested."

"My boy toy auction date." Mouth said adding to the list.

"Mine too." Haley agreed.

"Yeah, and mine." Nathan added.

"Wait a minute dawg." Skills said looking at Mouth, "You were a boy toy and I wasn't?"

"Yeah, Brooke bought me." Mouth said smiling at the memory. "To be honest I was kind of her last choice but I still had a really great night."

"Why where did she take you?" Haley asked him.

"A strip club." Mouth replied laughing when he noticed the expressions on the faces around him

"That sounds about right." Haley said after a moment as she laughed. "Brooke definitely knows how to organise a something fun."

"Like our first date," Nathan said taking Haley's hand in his.

Haley nodded, "Yeah and our engagement party."

"Which one?" Skills asked.

"Well, both I guess." Haley answered.

"The weekend at Rachel's cabin." Mouth said after a moment. "That was fun."

"Although we did learn a little too much about Brooke during 'I have never'" Nathan said remembering.

"And Bevin." Haley said looking at Skills.

"Yeah!" he agreed. "Damn that was funny."

_**Peyton: "Whoa Whoa Whoa wait, brooking yourself? What is that?**_

_**Brooke: "It's…"**_

_**Peyton (laughing along with everyone else)): "Oh no…eww."**_

_**Haley: "Brooke!"**_

_**(Everyone laughing)**_

_**Brooke: "Ok!"**_

_**Rachel: "Come on Brooke, drink up."**_

_**(Brooke drinks as Skills notices Bevin drinking)**_

_**Skills: "Wait hold on baby, why you drinking? You even know what that means?"**_

_**Bevin: "Umm hmm…I Brooke myself all the time."**_

_**(Everyone laughs as Rachel and Bevin tap their wine glasses together in a toast.)**_

_**Skills: "She keep on talking like that, I might have to Brooke myself."**_

_**Brooke: "Ok, can we please stop calling it that?"**_

At the memory of this the four of them laughed together where they were sitting, enjoying each others company as they remembered some of the good times they'd shared together since they had all become friends.

**(Elsewhere McKlusky – Too Hell with Good Intentions is playing)**

"Wait you want us to have a prom picture taken together?" Brooke asked in disbelief. "I thought you said we'd do something fun?"

"We will," Chris said. "This is just something to do before the fun, that's all."

"Why does that sound familiar to me?" Brooke asked jokingly as she remembered saying something similar to Lucas on their first date.

"Oh come on," Chris said dragging Brooke towards the photographer. "You'll need something to remember tonight by once I'm finished with you."

"Fine," Brooke said in response, "but I'm not promising that this won't end up on eBay or at the bottom of my bin at some point in the future."

"Use it however you wish," Chris said raising his eyebrow suggestively.

"Eww," Brooke said standing next to Chris in front of the camera. "Can you not say that again?"

"You know you want to." Chris said wrapping his arm around Brooke's shoulders.

"You going to tell me what this 'fun' thing is or do I have to guess?" Brooke asked him.

"It's a surprise," Chris said teasingly.

"I'm not sure I like the idea of that?" Brooke said laughing.

"Please, everyone knows that the only person better at having fun than you is Chris Keller." Chris answered her. "We're like the perfect match."

Brooke laughed as the photographer called, "Smile." And took their picture.

Just as they stepped away from the photographer, someone approached Chris to inform him that his set was due to start any minute.

Once they'd disappeared, Chris turned to Brooke and winked.

"Don't go anywhere," he said as he kissed the top of her hand and made his way to the stage.

Brooke watched after him for a moment frowning before heading towards the refreshment table.

Just as Brooke poured herself a drink, she felt someone tap her on the shoulder and turned to face them.

"Hey girlie," Haley said happily, smiling at Brooke. "How's it going?"

Brooke smiled back at Haley a look of confusion on her face.

"Surprisingly alright," she answered her. "I never thought I'd say this but I'm actually having a good time with Chris."

"Huh, well we know how it ended last time, maybe…" Haley began before being cut off by Brooke.

"Eww," she interrupted. "Haley!"

"I'm just saying," Haley said shrugging playfully.

"Please don't even go there," Brooke begged as she shook herself to rid the thoughts that had just entered her head.

Haley laughed at Brooke's reaction.

"I'm glad that you're having a good time," Haley said wrapping her arm around Brooke's waist and squeezing her tightly.

Haley paused for a moment before continue, uncertain whether to carry on or not.

"Listen Brooke," Haley began. "I just wanted to thank you for everything you've done for me since we've become friends. I'd never really thought about it before but there's a lot of things that you did for me that I'd forgotten."

"Haley, you don't have to thank me." Brooke said, guilt starting to rise within her. "I mean it wasn't anything really."

"No," Haley answered her. "It was. You've done a lot for Nathan and me. I mean you organised our first date, you arranged both of our engagement parties. You threw me a bachelorette party and made my wedding dress. Brooke, you gave me somewhere to live when I came back from tour and you gave Nathan and me our apartment back when we got back together."

Haley paused for a moment looking at Brooke who appeared stunned.

"Brooke that's not even half of the things that you've done for me and I know I'm probably rambling a little but basically what I wanted to say was, thank you. I'm really glad that we became friends."

For a moment Brooke stared at Haley, considering her options.

Although Haley had said these things with the best intention at heart, she'd accidentally made Brooke feel even worse about lying to her about her involvement in stealing the calculus exam.

Haley frowned, when after a minute Brooke still hadn't said anything.

"Brooke?" she questioned putting her hand on Brooke's arm and pulling her from her internal torment. "You okay?"

Brooke shook her head sadly.

"No," Brooke said averting her gaze to avoid Haley's eye contact. This was going to be hard enough without having Haley watching her with concern.

Little did Haley know that her concern would soon turn to anger.

"Why what's wrong?" Haley asked her.

"Haley I don't deserve your thanks or your friendship…" Brooke began.

"Would do you mean?" Haley asked laughing slightly at Brooke's reaction. "Of course you do…"

"Haley you don't understand." Brooke cut her off. "It was me. I stole the calculus test from the tutor centre and cheated on my calculus exam. Not Rachel. I'm the reason that you got fired. I lied to you…"

For a moment Haley stood frozen on the spot, shocked by what she'd just heard.

"What?" Haley said quietly.

"I'm sorry." Brooke reaching to touch Haley's arm.

Haley moved out of Brooke's reach, her confusion suddenly turning to hurt and resentment.

"It was you?" she asked. "You stole the test? You cheated?"

Brooke nodded sadly.

"Yes." Brooke answered her quietly.

"And Rachel?" Haley asked. "Where does she fit into all this?"

"She stole your key," Brooke answered her "and helped me steal it."

"She didn't cheat?" Haley asked her.

"No," Brooke answered.

"But you let everyone think that she did?" Haley asked her. "You stood by and watched whilst she got expelled?"

"Haley…" Brooke started taking a step towards her.

Haley put her hands up defensively.

"No Brooke," Haley said, anger evident in her voice. "You know I forgave you for the sex tape because it happened a long time ago, when we didn't know each other. But this…" she began. "This is completely different. I thought that we were supposed to be friends, that we could talk about anything."

Haley paused for a moment, taking a deep breath before continuing.

"But you lied to me. I asked you about the test Brooke and you lied right to my face. I mean you didn't even flinch. If you were struggling with calculus Brooke you should have told me! I would have helped you study, but instead you use me to take the easy way out. I bet you and Rachel were laughing at me behind my back too. Weren't you?"

"Haley," Brooke said. "It wasn't like that…"

"You know what Brooke?" Haley yelled at her. "I don't really care about the details, about how you got me fired from my job at the tutor centre. I don't care about any of it. Come Monday morning I'm reporting you to Principal Turner and from now on I want you to stay away the hell away from me."

"Haley…" Brooke said, her voice hoarse as she reached for her arm to stop her leaving. "I really am sorry. You have every right to report me because I deserve it. I just wanted you to know that I never meant to hurt you."

Haley wrenched her arm from Brooke's grasp and pointed her finger harshly at her.

"I mean it Brooke," she said coldly. "I don't want you to come anywhere near me. I can't believe I ever trusted you. You're never going to change Brooke, you're still the same manipulative bitch that you were when we first met and I was the fool that fell for your act, time and time again."

With this Haley turned on her heels and walked straight past the table where the other's were sitting, ignoring Nathan as she headed into the night outside.

Brooke saw Nathan glance her way questioningly before standing up from his seat.

Tears were in Brooke's eyes as she turned in the opposite direction to which Haley had left and removed the flask Chris had given her earlier that evening from her purse.

Peyton had seen the exchange between Brooke and Haley, and realised instantly what Brooke had done.

When she saw Haley leave the building, Peyton looked up at Lucas' confused expression and put her hand on his chest.

"I'll be right back," she said, looking at him.

"Ok," Lucas said, assuming that Peyton was going to follow after Brooke.

Peyton smiled at Lucas before kissing him softly on the lips and heading towards the table that Nathan was standing next to with Mouth and Skills.

Nathan had turned around and was about to chase after Haley, when Peyton put her hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"I'll go," she said looking at him pleadingly.

Nathan nodded his agreement and sat back down on the chair at the table with Skills and Mouth, watching closely as Peyton followed after his wife.


	28. Chapter 28

**(Honeygrove: Gazebo-Somewhere in Between by Lifehouse can be heard from the school)**

Peyton stepped outside of the school gym into the dark night.

There was a part of her that wanted to turn back around and chase after Brooke, a part of her that wanted to make sure that she was all right. Make sure that she wouldn't do anything stupid. However, Peyton knew that Haley was hurting right now, just as much as Brooke was. She'd been betrayed by someone that she thought she could trust and Peyton wanted to be there for her through this and hopefully bring her friends back together.

Peyton glanced around the street before her in search of Haley, and finally located her sitting at the gazebo where they'd met Chris earlier.

Peyton walked over towards the structure, slowly taking a seat beside Haley on the white bench.

For a moment neither of them spoke, each staring out into the darkness before them. After a minute Peyton finally broke the silence hovering between them.

"So…" Peyton started tentatively. "You want to talk about what just happened in there or what?"

Haley glanced at Peyton sadly before answering.

"Not really." Haley answered sighing.

"Come on it'll be fun." Peyton said trying to lighten the mood.

The truth was she had no idea what she could possibly say to Haley that would fix this mess. All she knew was that she didn't want to watch Brooke and Haley fighting. Especially after she'd only just repaired her friendship with her best friend.

Haley looked at Peyton, a frown on her face.

"Ok, I'll start…" Peyton said, pausing for a moment to think.

"Look Peyton," Haley said, using the time Peyton was thinking to speak. "I know you're trying to help but I don't think…"

Peyton took Haley's hand in her own and placed it on her knee.

"Oh come on Hales," Peyton said rubbing her hand gently. "Don't be such a defeatist. I mean if me and Brooke can bury the hatchet why can't you?"

"This isn't the same as what happened between you two." Haley said. "Besides me and Brooke don't have the history that you do. We've only known each other two years."

"Yeah but in those two years, you've been through a lot together Haley." Peyton said smiling at her friend. "I mean you've had fights before and you made it through those."

"This is different." Haley said bluntly.

"How?" Peyton said, not wanting to reveal that she knew about Brooke's involvement in the stolen calculus test just yet.

"I don't know," Haley said sadly. "I guess I just expected more from Brooke. I thought that our friendship meant something to her. I really wanted to believe that we were friends and that she wasn't just using me for her own gains, but I guess I was wrong."

"No," Peyton said. "You and Brooke are friends, Hales."

"No," Haley shook her head slowly as she stared at the ground. "We're not. Not anymore anyway."

"Haley, this is Brooke we're talking about. She makes mistakes like everyone else, not that she'd ever admit it." Peyton began laughing. "If there's anything I've learnt about her during the ten years that I've known her it's this…"

Peyton paused for a moment causing Haley to look up at her with interest.

"Brooke's crazy." Peyton finished.

Haley raised her eyebrow at Peyton's answer.

"That's what you're going with?" Haley asked her. "That she's crazy? Peyton it's going to take a lot more than that to make me forgive her."

Peyton sighed for a moment before answering her.

"Ok then." Peyton said thinking again, this time being more serious. "Did she tell you why she stole it?"

Peyton's question caught Haley off guard and she stared at her for a moment, a look of shock on her face.

"Wait you know what she did?" Haley asked her.

"It kind of came up earlier today." Peyton answered honestly.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Haley asked anger rising in her voice.

"It wasn't my place to," Peyton said calmly trying to ignore Haley's accusatory tone.

Haley rubbed her temple to try and ease the tension she could feel building there.

"Haley?" Peyton questioned. "Did she tell you why she stole it?"

"Peyton she stole it because she's a cheating liar that wanted to take the easy way out." Haley answered her. "What more could there be to it then that?"

Peyton sighed again.

"Why don't you ask her that?" Peyton asked Haley steadily.

"Because she'll probably tell me a load more lies." Haley said defensively.

The two girls looked at each other for a moment, Haley's chest rising and falling heavily as she tried to contain the anger she was feeling towards Brooke.

"What are you going to do now?" Peyton asked trying to change the direction this conversation was going.

Of course Peyton could tell her the situation leading towards Brooke stealing the test and how Rachel had forced her hand but if Brooke hadn't told her than maybe she'd not wanted Haley to know. Maybe she'd wanted Haley to be mad at her because she felt that's what she deserved. Or maybe she was trying to push Haley away to protect her in the long run, like Brooke had done with her.

At this moment Peyton couldn't know. All she knew was that right now it seemed like Brooke was on self-destruct mode.

"About what?" Haley asked her voice a little calmer now, bringing Peyton from her thoughts.

"About Brooke." Peyton asked. "Are you going to report her?"

"I'm sorry Peyton but I have to." Haley answered her sadly. "I don't want to but why should she get away with this?"

"She shouldn't." Peyton said honestly.

Haley looked at Peyton surprised.

"Haley, there's no denying the Brooke did the wrong thing by you." Peyton said in answer to the questioning look she'd given her. "I mean if I was in your shoes I'd probably do exactly the same thing. You're doing the right thing by reporting her."

Haley continued to look at Peyton.

"But?" she asked.

"No but." Peyton answered. "Brooke stole the test, she cheated, she lied and she let someone else take the blame for all that. I mean if you think about it, that's pretty low right?"

Haley turned away from Peyton to look at the street in front of her. She wondered whether Peyton was trying to use some sort of reverse psychology on her. After all Peyton and Brooke were friends again, she'd want to help her out, but hearing Peyton agree with what Haley was doing somehow made it all seem worse.

"She also told you the truth." Peyton added quietly when Haley didn't say anything.

Haley looked back at her and sighed.

"I asked her about the test Peyton." Haley said shaking her head. "She lied right to my face about it. How could she do that if we were really friends?"

Peyton shrugged.

"I can't answer that for her." Peyton answered.

"Listen Peyton," Haley started looking closely at her friend. "Let me ask you something. If Brooke hadn't come to your house last night, do you think that you'd still be friends today?"

"I don't know," Peyton sighed. "But Haley, if Brooke hadn't come to my house last night I wouldn't be here today."

"Are you purposefully being this unhelpful," Haley laughed, feeling uncomfortable talking about how close she'd been to losing Peyton last night.

"No," Peyton answered her smiling.

Peyton paused momentarily.

"Ok, you want me to tell you something?" Peyton asked finally.

Haley nodded the affirmative.

"I wasn't the only one that could have died last night Haley. Brooke could have too. The thought that I might lose her without getting a chance to make things right between us made me realise how important she is to me."

Peyton paused a moment, feeling tears prick at her eyes as she remembered how she'd felt lying down in that basement.

"I said some horrible things to her, as she did to me, but thinking that if she died, those would be the last words I spoke to her…. it's not even worth thinking about. I don't know how I would have lived with myself if that'd happened." Peyton finished.

"So why are you telling me this?" Haley asked her.

"Me and Brooke aren't friends again because she saved me, because I feel like I owe her something for what she did. Even though I know I owe her my life, that's not why I forgave her." Peyton said seriously. "Haley, life is way too short to spend it fighting with the people you care about, the people that care about you, because you never know when they could be taken from you."

"I guess what I'm saying is, could you live with yourself, knowing that if she wasn't here tomorrow, that the last thing you said to each other was out of anger?" Peyton asked. "No one should let the sun set on an argument Haley, because what if for one of you it didn't rise the next day?"

Haley seemed to consider it for a moment as she stared up into the night's sky.

"Peyton, I understand what you're saying ok, I do. But she's the one that betrayed me. Brooke threw away this friendship, not me. If it doesn't matter to her, then why should I let it bother me? Why should I care about her if she doesn't care about me."

Peyton sighed.

"Because it does bother you Haley," Peyton said sadly standing up and turning to stand in front of her. "And because deep down you know that Brooke cares about you too. If you looked back on this moment ten years from now having never made it up with Brooke, having never spoken to her again, would you have any regrets?"

Haley looked up to meet Peyton's gaze.

"Haley, believe it or not, I'm not asking you to forgive Brooke. I'm asking you all this to try and help you. There's nothing worse than regret Haley, the not knowing what could have been, or wishing you'd done something different. No one lost any sleep because they decided to forgive someone. I'd hate to think that you were in pain because you couldn't come to terms with a choice you made a long time ago."

"Peyton…" Haley started.

"Brooke's no saint, Haley, we both know that." Peyton said. "She can drive you crazy at the best of times. She's impulsive and brash…and she doesn't make excuses for who she is or what she does but then if you think about it she's never had to. No one cared if she stayed up all night or didn't go to school the next day. Brooke never had to make excuses because there was never anyone there to be disappointed in her."

Peyton paused for a moment.

"Haley, you and me both know that there's more to Brooke then the image she displays to the rest of the school. That deep down she has a heart of gold, that she'd do anything for her friends, including you. I mean it wasn't that long ago that the whole school thought she was pregnant."

Peyton stopped for a minute to squeeze Haley's hand in hers.

"Brooke wouldn't just do that for anyone you know?" Peyton said smiling to Haley. "Only her real friends, the people that she really cares about"

Haley looked up at Peyton and smiled sadly.

"Let me ask you something Haley" Peyton continued, "What was the last thing that Brooke said to you?"

"She said that she never meant to hurt me." Haley said sadly.

"I don't know about you Haley, but I could live with that." Peyton said, "Now let me ask you something. What was the last thing that you said to her?"

Haley looked at the ground remembering back to the conversation between her and Brooke.

"That's what I thought," Peyton said reading Haley's expression. "Don't get me wrong I did the exact same thing to her yesterday. I told her that she was dead to me. Not one of my finest moments I must admit."

Haley looked back up at Peyton who hesitated for a moment before continuing.

"Before you decide to cut Brooke out of your life for good, there's something I should tell you about her," Peyton said. "That way if you do decide that you can't bring yourself to forgive her at least you'll walk away with all the facts."

"Peyton…" Haley started.

"Brooke studied for calculus exams," Peyton started cutting her off. "She still failed. Rachel hadn't told her she was failing until it was too late to get help. You'd just come out of the hospital, me and her weren't talking. Rachel was the only person she could turn to for help."

Peyton let Haley absorb this information for a moment.

"You ever think that maybe she didn't come to you for help because she didn't want to be a burden whilst you were recovering?" Peyton asked her. "Perhaps she thought that you had enough of your own problems to deal with. Think about it Haley. If you were in her position what would you have done, knowing that all your friends would graduate without you and that you'd be left alone once again?"

Haley sighed heavily as she let this information sink in.

"Haley, that's not all." Peyton continued sadly. "Brooke's sick, she's got cancer. She doesn't want anyone to know but I thought maybe that's some information you could use."

Haley's face betrayed the shock that she was feeling.

"What?" she managed to get out after a while.

"She was diagnosed not long after your wedding," Peyton continued. "She's been dealing with it alone since. I guess she didn't want to burden you with it on top of your pregnancy but I don't know. All I know is that she's having surgery next week and I'm scared to death for her."

Haley continued to look at Peyton her mouth agape.

"I don't want you to forgive her out of sympathy Haley, that's not why I told you." Peyton carried on. "I know what it's like to think that someone is going to be around forever. It makes those feelings of anger and pain last so much longer because you'll always assume that the person they're aimed at will live long enough for you to eventually forgive them. If something happens to Brooke, I'd hate to think that you'd never set things right, that you regretted your decision because you too thought she'd be around a little while longer."

Haley looked at Peyton with tears in her eyes.

"I guess my question to you is this," Peyton said looking at Haley. "If Brooke died next week and you hadn't forgiven her. Could you live with yourself Haley? Or would it be something that you'd live to regret? Once you know the answer to that, you'll be able to decide what to do."

Leaving that question hanging between the two of them, Peyton stood from the bench, releasing Haley's hand from hers and started to make her way back to the prom.


	29. Chapter 29

**(Honeygrove Prom: Tyler Hilton can be heard performing in the background)**

Following her fight with Haley, Brooke had removed the flask that Chris had given her earlier from her purse and heading in the opposite direction to the one Haley had disappeared in. The minutes following the fight seemed to pass by in a blur and before she knew it, Brooke was standing in an empty bathroom, in the main school building.

Void of all thoughts, of all emotion, Brooke took a seat on the floor, leaning her back against the bathroom wall and opening the flask in her hand slowly. For a moment Brooke stared at the flask blankly, before throwing the lid in her other hand across the room towards the opposite wall.

Brooke rested her head back against the wall where she was sitting and sighed.

"Bottoms up," she said before taking a large swig of the liquor.

As she swallowed the liquid in her throat Brooke's face contorted in disgust.

"What kind of person drinks whiskey?" she asked herself before taking another sip.

Just because she didn't like it, didn't mean that she wasn't going to drink it.

For a moment Brooke stared around the room, taking in the yellow wall tiles and light blue linoleum on the floor beneath her.

Brooke was in the process of drinking some more from the flask when someone entered the bathroom door. The student stopped the moment that she noticed Brooke sitting down on the floor. She took a minute to process the image before her, slowly approaching Brooke and closing the bathroom door behind her.

When she noticed the flask in Brooke's hand the student finally spoke up.

"What are you drinking?" she asked Brooke.

Brooke had been so lost in her own thoughts that she'd not even noticed the girl standing over her, until she had spoken. She looked up at the student in surprise and smiled, her head feeling light and foggy from the alcohol flowing through her veins.

Although Brooke had only had a few sips of Chris' whiskey, that in combination with the tequila and her concussion was making her feel sluggish and drunk. Although it had been almost a day since she'd suffered the blow to her head, the fact that she'd been drunk last night and continued this morning was all working to her disadvantage.

"Hey!" Brooke said raising the flask for the girl to take. "Want some?"

The girl took the flask from Brooke and had a sip, spluttering as the whiskey hit the back of her throat. After she'd finished coughing the girl handed the flask back to Brooke.

"Sit," Brooke said tapping a space on the floor beside her.

The girl studied Brooke a moment longer before pulling the tall trash can in front of the door to keep any other venturing students out. Once she was certain that no one would catch them drinking the girl took a seat beside Brooke and turned to look at her once more as she had another sip from the flask.

Brooke looked back towards the girl, noticing her shoulder length blonde hair and the elegant black dress she was wearing.

"What's your name?" Brooke asked slurring slightly and handing the flask back to the girl.

"Vanessa," she said before taking a swig of drink.

Brooke smiled at the girl a moment before offering her own name.

"I'm Brooke," she said taking the offered flask back from Vanessa.

"So Brooke," Vanessa said resting back against the wall. "Why are you hiding out in here?"

Brooke turned to look at Vanessa and handed her the flask back.

"Just thinking," she said, mumbling slightly. "What about you?"

Vanessa removed the flask from her lips and passed it back to Brooke.

"Same," Vanessa answered. "To be honest, I'm not exactly having a good night."

"Join the club," Brooke said having another drink. "One of my best friends just found out that I've been lying to her for the last few months and she is _extremely_ mad."

"That sucks," Vanessa said taking the flask back.

"I guess," Brooke said looking at Vanessa through hazy eyes.

Vanessa took a long swig of whiskey to fill the silence that had followed.

"So what's your story?" Brooke asked after a minute. "Won't your date be wondering where you've got to?"

Vanessa passed the flask to Brooke as she answered.

"I haven't got one," Vanessa answered her. "My boyfriend broke up with me yesterday, turns out he only went out with me to get closer to my best friend. Surprisingly neither of them are here tonight."

Brooke looked closely at the girl as she removed the flask from her lips.

"I'm sorry," she said handing her the flask.

"Yeah well," Vanessa said looking at the flask before her. "I'm better off without them. He was a jerk and she was a bitch. They're a match made in heaven if you ask me."

Vanessa passed the flask back to Brooke without drinking anything.

Brooke looked at Vanessa confused.

"You don't seem very upset," Brooke said interestedly. "Aren't you mad?"

"My philosophy," Vanessa said meeting Brooke's gaze. "Is to move on. Why waste your time trying to change something that you know you're never going to be able to? I'd much rather spend it doing something productive."

"Like drinking?" Brooke asked her.

"Partly," Vanessa answered laughing. "I meant more like focusing on myself and achieving what I want out of life."

Vanessa paused for a moment before continuing.

"Well, that and getting revenge of course." She said winking at Brooke who took another swig from the flask.

"What did you do?" Brooke asked.

She'd only just met Vanessa but from the little conversation they'd shared already, Brooke already liked her.

"Let's just say that my ex-boyfriend is otherwise engaged tonight, somehow he managed to get himself handcuffed to a public fence naked." Vanessa answered her.

"No way," Brooke said laughing. "What about you friend?"

"My ex-best friend wasn't too impressed when she got suspended today for painting graffiti on one of the bathroom stalls at school." Vanessa finished.

"I'll make sure not to upset you tonight then," Brooke said, drinking from the flask and laughing.

Once she'd finished she offered the flask back to Vanessa who waved it off. Brooke shrugged before having another sip.

"So what about you?" Vanessa asked. "Isn't the famous Chris Keller going to wonder where you've disappeared to?"

Brooke looked at Vanessa surprised.

"I saw you with him earlier," she said answering Brooke's questioning expression.

"I doubt it," Brooke answered continuing her drink.

"How'd you meet him?" Vanessa asked Brooke. "Are you a singer as well?"

"Uh, no." Brooke said laughing. "I'd prove it to you but I'm afraid your head will explode."

"You that bad?" Vanessa laughed.

"Oh yeah," Brooke said having some more whiskey. "I met him through a friend…. well ex-friend as of tonight."

"Haley?" Vanessa questioned.

Brooke nodded, "How do you know Haley?"

"I saw her on tour with Chris last year." Vanessa shrugged.

"Oh my god," Brooke said laughing. "Are you a fan?"

"Yeah," Vanessa said smiling at Brooke. "Are you saying you're not?"

"I don't know I've never really listened to his music." Brooke answered.

"Wait you're going out with him, but you've never listened to his music?" Vanessa asked confused.

"Whoa," Brooke said. "Me and Chris are not going out. I mean ok, we slept together once but other than that we barely even know each other really. Plus I don't think I could be in another relationship with three people. Just me, Chris and his ego."

Brooke had some more of her drink and shook the flask realising that it was almost empty.

"Well, maybe you could introduce us then?" Vanessa asked.

"You like him?" Brooke asked incredulously.

"What's not to like?" Vanessa responded. "He's funny, handsome, not to mention a musician. He's the total package."

"If you say so," Brooke said laughing as she finished what was left in the flask and frowned as she turned it upside down to find it empty.

Vanessa watched Brooke closely, sensing that whatever the fight had been about was troubling her greatly.

"I need more alcohol," Brooke said as she attempted to stand up.

As she did Brooke threw the flask across the room and leant against the sink beside her. She stumbled slightly as she stood almost falling back into the wall beside her.

"Don't you think you've had enough?" Vanessa said concerned. "You already seem pretty wasted."

"I'm fine," Brooke said waving her off and making her way to the door in a disjointed line.

Vanessa rushed ahead and moved the trashcan out of her way allowing Brooke into the corridor outside.

"Hey," Brooke said, putting her hand on Vanessa's shoulder. "It was nice talking to you. Listen if you'll still around later come find me, I'll introduce you to Chris. Maybe then he won't care if I go home."

"You want me to walk you back to the gym?" Vanessa asked as she watched Brooke stumble away.

Brooke turned to face her for a moment.

"No," Brooke said. "You do you thing or whatever it is that you were doing. I'll be fine."

With that Brooke turned and walked back towards the gym, bumping into a locker or two as she did.

Vanessa watched her until she disappeared around the corner, before raising her eyebrow and heading in the opposite direction.

**(Honeygrove Prom: Gym- Empty Apartment by Yellowcard is now playing)**

As Brooke entered the gym again, she saw Peyton walking quickly towards her.

"Where have you been?" Peyton asked her after a moment.

"No where," Brooke asked slurring obviously.

"Are you drunk?" Peyton said recognising the signs.

"Of course not," Brooke said wrapping her arm around Peyton's waist. "You having a good time P. Sawyer?"

Peyton wrapped her arm around Brooke's waist tighter, pulling her nearer to her side.

"Are you?" she countered.

"Yep," Brooke said slipping slightly. "The best."

Brooke poked Peyton slowly on the shoulder, taking her time to focus so that she wouldn't miss.

"Seriously Brooke, how much have you had?" Peyton asked.

"Not much," Brooke answered.

"Brooke…" Peyton began shifting Brooke's weight on her slightly.

Just then Chris approached from the direction of the stage.

"Ok, Brooke Davis," he started ignoring the fact that Peyton had been talking. "You ready for the fun to start?"

Brooke nodded and wriggled free from Peyton's hold.

"Let's go." Brooke answered moving beside him.

Chris wrapped his arm around Brooke's shoulder, alerting Peyton to the fact that however much Brooke had drunk it was definitely too much.

"Ok," she said grabbing Brooke's arm. "Listen, I need to talk to you about something important. What do you say I take you back to the motel?"

"Where's the fun it that?" Brooke asked her.

"Oh come on Brooke, you, me and Blondie? Sounds like fun to me." Chris said arrogantly.

"Eww," Brooke said looking at Peyton. "No offence."

Peyton laughed despite herself.

"What did you want to talk about?" Brooke asked her when no one else said anything.

"Haley…" Peyton started.

"Uh uh," Brooke said putting her hand up in front of her to stop Peyton continuing. "I'd rather not."

"Brooke you don't understand…" Peyton began.

"Not listening," Brooke sang before becoming serious. "Look, Peyton I'll be fine," she said putting her hand on Peyton's shoulder. "You enjoy the rest of your night, we'll talk about it tomorrow."

With that Brooke started towards the door, Chris following beside her.

"Brooke," Peyton tried again.

Brooke turned to face Peyton, interrupting her again.

"I love you Peyton, you know that, but you worry too much." Brooke said tapping Peyton playfully on the arm. "I'm not going far, besides I'll see you in the room later on."

Peyton noticed, Nathan and the others watching from the table where they were sitting, Lucas now among them. Haley was still outside at the gazebo, not having returned since Peyton had left her.

Brooke winked at Peyton before continuing out of the gym and onto the street with Chris.

Once Brooke had disappeared outside, Peyton returned to the table and looked pointedly at Mouth.

"Hey listen," she said suggestively.

"I'm already on it." Mouth said seriously standing from the table and looking towards Skills. "You fancy a little trip?"

"You want me to spy on Brooke," Skills asked.

"Not so much spying as making sure she get back to the motel ok," Peyton said in answer to his question.

Skills seemed to consider it for a moment before answering.

"Ok," he said standing a turning back to Mouth. "Let's go dawg."

With that Mouth and Skills followed in the direction of Brooke and Chris.

The three of the watched as they too left the gym and disappeared into the night.

"I'm going to go check on Haley," Nathan said standing up and looking at Peyton. "She's been out there a long time."

Peyton nodded in approval and turned towards Lucas who was standing from his seat.

As Nathan left the table, Lucas pulled Peyton into a silent embrace as she sighed into his chest. They stood there for a moment like this as Lucas rocked her gently in his arms and brushed the side of her face tenderly.

At this Peyton looked up to meet his gaze, sharing a meaningful look before he pulled her in closer again.

**(Honeygrove: Outside)**

"So where are we going?" Chris asked Brooke as they walked away from the prom in the opposite direction to where Haley was sitting alone at the gazebo.

"Somewhere that has alcohol," Brooke said in response.

"What happened to the flask you took earlier?" Chris questioned curiously.

"I drank it," Brooke said matter of factly.

"Ok," Chris said smiling as he supported her. "A bar it is."


	30. Chapter 30

**(Honeygrove: Gazebo)**

Once outside the school, Nathan paused briefly, glancing around the empty street before him. He approached the gazebo where he knew Haley was sitting a concerned look on his face.

Nathan had witnessed Haley's fight with Brooke inside and he wondered whether it was a repercussion from the sex tape fiasco, especially when Peyton had asked to go and see Haley before him.

Haley was so deep in thought, staring out into the night before her that she didn't even realise that Nathan was towering over her until he spoke.

"That seat taken?" he asked her lightly.

Haley jumped momentarily as his voice dragged her away from the thoughts she was struggling with.

When she noticed that it was Nathan standing before her, Haley smiled and patted the empty space beside her.

Nathan sat down next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to his body.

Haley placed her hands on his arm, nuzzling her face into his chest.

Nathan smiled at her as she did this and began playing her a loose strand of her hair.

For a moment, the pair of them sat together in silence, enjoying being content in each other's company and admiring the bright stars above them, the calming quiet around them.

After a moment, Nathan finally spoke, looking down at Haley as he did.

"So what are you doing out here?" Nathan asked her, wrapping his arm tighter around her shoulders in a comfortingly embrace.

"Just thinking," Haley answered him, her gaze fixed on the ground before her.

Since Peyton had left her sitting in the gazebo, Haley had been replaying her words over and over in her head.

"_**Haley, that's not all." Peyton continued sadly. "Brooke's sick, she's got cancer. She doesn't want anyone to know but I thought maybe that's some information you could use."**_

"_**I guess my question to you is this," Peyton said looking at Haley. "If Brooke died next week and you hadn't forgiven her. Could you live with yourself Haley? Or would it be something that you'd live to regret? Once you know the answer to that, you'll be able to decide what to do."**_

Peyton's words had hit Haley hard, not only because she was now faced with making a decision that she could end up regretting for the rest of her life but also because she was struggling to believe that Brooke was actually sick.

It was because of this that Haley was struggling to put her feelings of anger towards Brooke over the stolen calculus test aside. Peyton was right. It's easy to be mad at someone when you think they'll be around forever, but every so often the knowledge of Brooke's cancer would seep through again and Haley would be at odds with herself once again.

At this moment, she resented Peyton telling her about it. Haley was scared for Brooke, and deep down she knew that she still cared about her, still considered Brooke her friend, but she felt as though she'd been backed into a corner.

If she forgave her now, Haley wouldn't know if it was because of what Peyton told her, or because she truly did forgive Brooke and that uncertainty bothered her.

"Something on your mind?" Nathan asked Haley worriedly, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"Brooke," Haley said looking up to meet Nathan's troubled expression. "We had a fight."

"You want to talk about it?" Nathan asked tentatively, sensing that whatever it had been about, it was much bigger than the sex tape.

"Not really," Haley said smiling up at him sadly and sighing.

"Look Haley," Nathan said kissing her lightly on the forehead and resting his chin against the top of her head. "I'm sure whatever it is you'll sort it out."

"I don't think so," Haley said shaking her head.

"Was it really that bad?" Nathan asked looking slightly shocked.

Haley and Brooke had fought on a number of occasions in the past and each time all it had taken was an "I'm sorry" and a warm hug to mend the broken bridges. For Haley to doubt that her and Brooke could get past this immediately made Nathan suspicious.

Admittedly he didn't spend as much time with Brooke as Haley did, but he still considered them to be friends. Him and Brooke were the same, only two years ago they had been completely different people, drinking and partying too hard, doing whatever they wanted because they could.

Haley had changed Nathan for the better, but he also felt that she'd changed Brooke as well. Peyton once commented that Brooke had rubbed off on Haley, but Nathan had thought the reverse was also true. As much as Brooke had influenced Haley, Haley had influenced her. Nathan knew that Brooke and Haley had been extremely close during the troubles in their marriage and he knew that Brooke would never hurt Haley intentionally. Whatever the fight had been about it was clearly troubling Haley.

Haley didn't answer Nathan's question, continuing to stare into the night. Nathan hated seeing his wife seem so lost and attempted to lighten the mood.

"Did she call you fat?" he asked watching Haley closely.

Despite herself, Haley laughed and looked back up at Nathan.

"No," she laughed, taking Nathan's hand in hers.

Nathan sat up from the where he'd been resting against the back of the bench and turned to face Haley, taking both her hands in his.

"Haley look," Nathan, said gazing into her eyes. "Right now it might seem like whatever Brooke's may have said or done is the worst thing in the world but I know what you two are like. You'll work it out eventually, you can never stay angry with the people you love for too long."

Haley smiled at him as he continued to speak.

"I guarantee that in a week's time you'll have forgotten all about it. We both know that Brooke would never intentionally set out to hurt you. I mean it's Brooke, she acts first and thinks later." Nathan said squeezing her hands tightly in his grip and leaning forward to kiss her on the forehead.

Haley smiled genuinely at Nathan's words. Deep down she knew he was right. Brooke was probably the most instinctive person she'd ever met. In fact it was one of the qualities Haley admired in her, the fact that she takes risks and puts herself out there. Haley also knew that it was this exact trait in Brooke, which left her vulnerable to heartache and pain.

Brooke always leaps feet first into everything, gives herself unreservedly to the people that she cares about. It didn't matter what was going on in her life, if her friends needed her she'd be there for them no strings attached.

Haley sighed dramatically.

"What did I ever do to deserve you?" she asked running her hand through his hair.

"I don't know," Nathan said playfully, "but whatever it was must have really pissed someone off."

Haley laughed and kissed Nathan passionately on the lips before responding to his remark.

"Well in that case," she said looking into his eyes, "I'm glad I did it."

Haley paused momentarily.

"You always know exactly what I need to hear." She added after a minute.

"So you want to find Brooke now or share another dance with me first?" Nathan said knowingly.

"What makes you think I'd want to find Brooke?" she asked curiously.

"I know you Hales," Nathan answered. "You've already forgiven her, now all you need to do is tell her so that you can go back to being friends again."

"I hate that you know me so well," Haley said kissing him again.

"No you don't," Nathan said teasingly.

Haley pushed him gently in the chest.

"Hey," he said in mock hurt, standing up and pulling her up into a bear hug.

After a moment Nathan released her slightly and gazed into her eyes.

"You ok now?" he asked her seriously.

"Yeah," she answered him honestly. "I am."

"So you want to go find Brooke?" he asked her.

"In a minute," Haley said wrapping her arms around Nathan's neck and rested her head on his chest. "First I want to share another dance with you. Then I'll go and make up with Brooke."

Nathan made a move to head back towards the school, but Haley refused to move.

"I thought you wanted to dance?" he asked her.

"I do," Haley, said playfully, "I never said I wanted to dance inside."

Nathan smiled at Haley and wrapped his arms around her waist as they danced together under the stars, the music from prom quietly leaking into the night outside.


	31. Chapter 31

**(Honeygrove Prom: Brand New Day- Forty Foot Echo is playing)**

After Nathan had left to talk to Haley, Lucas had taken Peyton's hand gently in his, leading her slowly towards the dance floor.

Once they were standing together amongst the other students, Lucas wrapped one arm around Peyton's waist, the other behind her head and pulled her gently towards him.

Peyton rested her head on Lucas' chest and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Lucas smiled as she nuzzled closer to him and stroked the back of her head with his hand.

For a moment they danced together like this, Peyton allowing Lucas to comfort her in his arms.

Lucas and Peyton had been dancing together in silence, each enjoying the closeness between them when Peyton finally looked up at Lucas and kissed him deeply on the lips.

Peyton rested her head on Lucas chest again as he rubbed her back comfortingly with his hand.

"You ok?" he asked, already knowing the answer. "You seem quiet."

"I'm just worried about Brooke," Peyton replied truthfully.

"You want to go and find her?" Lucas asked genuinely.

"Would you mind?" Peyton said looking back up at him in surprise.

"Of course not Peyton," Lucas said smiling at her. "Not if it will make you feel better."

Peyton smiled widely before kissing him again.

When they separated, Lucas took Peyton's hand in his and led her towards the exit.

**(Honeygrove: bar)**

Chris sat alone in a booth, in the same bar that he'd first met the others in earlier that day. Brooke had gone to the bathroom a moment ago and he waited patiently for her to return, drink on hand.

Just then, Chris saw her approaching from the bathroom and smiled.

"Hey Brooke Davis," he called as she approached him, bumping into a number of tables as she did. "I've got your order ready."

As he said this, Chris lifted up one of the shot glasses from the table for her to see.

Brooke smiled as she approached and when she reached Chris, took the glass from his hand and knocked it back in one.

"Thanks," she said slurring as she went to sit opposite him.

Chris drank one of his own shots from the table as he watched her, slamming it down on the table once he'd finished.

As Brooke attempted to sit, she positioned herself wrongly and missed the chair, landing in a heap on the floor.

Chris stood up instantly to make sure that she was ok, and began to laugh when he noticed Brooke lying in a fit of hysterics on the floor.

"Did you move the chair?" she asked through laughter, attempting to sit up from the floor.

"No," Chris said standing over her and extending his hand. "You moved your ass."

"Damn," Brooke said reaching up her hand and missing Chris' completely.

Chris laughed as he bent down to pull her shoulders off the ground.

"There you go," he said kneeling beside her. "Do you think you can make it the rest of the way from here?"

"Uh uh," Brooke said reaching her arms up to Chris as he stood.

"Ok, fine," Chris said pulling Brooke up onto her feet. "Bu don't say I never did anything for you."

"Promise," Brooke said raising her hand up to her head in a salute before Chris helped her sit down in the chair properly.

Chris took the seat opposite her and handed Brooke another shot glass.

Brooke took it willingly and once again drank it down in one.

Once she'd finished, she threw the glass onto the floor beside her and stared at Chris for a moment as though trying to make out who he was.

"Have I got something on my face?" he said when he noticed the confused look she was giving him.

Chris reached up and wiped his face with his free hand when he noticed Brooke shaking her head exaggeratedly from side to side.

"You…." She said slurring as she pointed indiscriminately towards Chris. "Have a funny shaped head."

"What?" Chris asked laughing.

"I never noticed it before." Brooke said before taking another glass from in front of her and drinking its contents.

Chris ignored Brooke's last comment as he watched her closely.

"How much have you had to drink tonight?" he asked her with concern when she continued to knock another shot back.

"Not enough," she said attempting to pick up another glass.

Chris put his hands on hers to stop Brooke from lifting the glass. Brooke looked up to meet his worried expression.

"Perhaps I should take you back to your motel room." Chris said, gazing at her.

"It's still early," Brooke protested. "Let's have some more fun first."

Chris looked down at the table for a moment before meeting her gaze once again.

"Are you really having fun?" Chris asked her, sensing that Brooke was struggling with something.

"Sure," she said leaning her body closer to his over the table. "I feel great."

Chris sighed for a moment. He knew that Brooke would do almost anything with him right now if he suggested it. However, for the first time, Chris didn't want to take advantage of Brooke. Looking at her now, he knew that she was drowning in a pool of pain, drinking herself into oblivion and numbness.

All he could think about in that moment was, where were her friends when Brooke obviously needed them.

"Liar," he said smiling at her half-heartedly, shaking that thought from his head.

"You forgot cheat," she added almost falling off her chair as she attempted to have another drink.

"Ok," Chris said standing up and walking over towards her. "Let's go."

"Where are we going?" Brooke asked interestedly.

"Your room." Chris said pulling her up from the chair.

Brooke raised her eyebrow mischievously at him.

"My room?" she asked leaning on him for support.

Chris hitched Brooke up so that her arm was wrapped around his shoulders to help her balance.

"Yeah," Chris answered. "I think you could probably do with some sleep."

"With Chris Keller?" she asked putting her finger to his lip and looking at him intensely.

Chris let out a huge sigh and closed his eyes a moment.

"No," he said finally, kicking himself inside. "Alone."

"I don't want to be alone," Brooke said pouting.

Chris watched Brooke and saw vulnerability in her eyes he had never seen before, as she added quietly, "Not anymore."

"I know how you feel," Chris said leading her towards the door.

From their seat, hidden out of view, Mouth and Skills watched Chris and Brooke leave the bar. Mouth stood quickly from the table, Skills following closely after him and they made their way after the pair of them.


	32. Chapter 32

**(Tree Hill: Karen's House)**

Dan stood up from the table and picked up the two empty plates, before taking them into the kitchen.

Karen stood up from the table and followed Dan into the kitchen, where she noticed him starting the washing up.

"Please leave that," Karen said as she placed her hand on his arm in an attempt to make him stop.

Dan looked at Karen before answering.

"It's the least I can do after you cooked." Dan said, adding. "It'll only take a moment. Why don't you go and relax? I'll bring you in a coffee when I've finished."

Karen smiled at Dan and asked.

"Are you sure?" she questioned, watching him closely.

"Yeah," Dan said smiling again. "In fact, I insist."

Karen nodded at his request, saying. "Well ok then," and making her way into the lounge.

After about quarter of an hour, Dan made his way into the lounge to join her, carrying two cups of coffee in his hands.

Dan handed one to Karen, which she accepted gratefully, before taking a seat in the easy chair next to the sofa where she was sitting.

Dan took a sip of his drink before speaking again.

"Thank you for dinner," Dan said. "You really didn't have to invite me over earlier."

"Well, it was my way of saying thank you for last night." Karen responded. "I had a really good night."

"I'm glad." Dan said taking another sip from his drink.

For a moment neither of them said anything, a comfortable silence falling over the pair of them as they continued to drink their coffee.

After another minute or so, Karen finally spoke.

"Dan," she began. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Dan answered as he lowered his cup from his mouth.

"What you said to me last night at prom, about how you never stopped thinking about me and Lucas whilst you were away at college…did you mean it?" Karen asked tentatively.

Dan looked at Karen for a moment before placing his cup on the table by his side.

"Yeah I did." Dan answered. "I know that these past seventeen years I haven't been the man that I should have been. I never treated you right and I know that because of it, you'll never see me as more than a friend to you."

Dan paused briefly before continuing.

"And that's ok with me," he carried on. "Because I know it's more than I deserve and I'm just happy that you'll letting me be a part of your life, Karen. A part of Lucas' life."

Karen smiled at him, taking another swig of her drink.

"I've really enjoyed these past couple of months, Karen. Spending time with you, it feels right somehow and if tomorrow or the next day you'd rather that we didn't see each other as much, then I'll look back on them fondly and know that I was lucky to have what I did."

"I don't think you need to worry about that," Karen said genuinely. "I feel exactly the same way. When Keith died I thought that I would be all alone other than Lucas, but then you showed up on my doorstep and I feel like we haven't really looked back since. You've been a great support for me through this."

As Karen said this she rubbed her belly gently with her hand.

"Honestly," Karen said laughing at her words. "I never thought that I would enjoy your company, but when I'm with you it feels so natural."

Dan picked his cup up from the table beside him and had a sip before finally getting up the courage to ask Karen the question that he'd been wanting to for a while now.

"Karen, do you ever think that we could go back to being more than just friends?" Dan asked hesitantly as he watched her closely.

"I don't know," Karen said honestly, smiling at him.

Dan nodded before drinking some more of his coffee and avoiding Karen's glance.

Karen noticed his expression and added.

"But I wouldn't rule anything out," she said gazing at him. "You know what they say, anything's possible and lately I've been feeling that maybe they're right. When I'm with you, I think that anything is possible, that maybe we can start again. It'll just take time."

Dan looked up at Karen in surprise and she saw a huge grin on his face before he nodded to himself.

Karen's smile grew too, and she took another sip from her drink, the pair of them sitting in comfortable silence once more, content in the others company.

Just then, Dan's phone beep in his trouser pocket and he looked up at Karen as he removed it.

"I'm sorry," he apologised looking at the phone in his hand.

"That's ok," Karen said finishing her drink.

Dan read the text message that he'd just received and his blood turned cold within him.

For a moment he stared at it, stunned.

Karen noticed Dan's expression and a look of concern crossed her face.

"Is everything ok?" she asked him worriedly.

Karen's voice pulled Dan's gaze from the phone and he met her worried look with a half-hearted smile.

"Uh, yeah." He began. "Just a message from a work colleague that's all, I wasn't expecting it."

This answer seemed to satisfy Karen, who stood from her chair, her empty cup in her hand. She walked over to Dan and picked up his empty cup from the table beside him before heading into the kitchen.

Dan looked at his phone again and this time anger began to boil up inside of him. He thought he'd put a stop to all this nonsense, but obviously the kid wasn't through playing games just yet.

Not to worry, Dan thought to himself. The next time that Dan saw the kid, he'd take care of him. Once and for all.

Dan read the text message once more before closing his phone and standing up to join Karen in the kitchen, the words from the text message still echoing in his mind.

_**It's not over yet.**_

**(Honeygrove: bar)**

Mouth sat with Skills in a booth hidden out of view of both Chris and Brooke. He looked at his phone and smiled as the screen on his phone flashed _**Message Sent**_.


	33. Chapter 33

**(Honeygrove: Motel)**

Peyton and Lucas approached the girls' motel room, hand in hand. As they reached the door, she used her free hand to remove the key from her purse and opened it slowly.

Her and Lucas stepped inside to complete darkness. Lucas switched on the light and closed the door as they stepped into the room further.

Peyton went into the bathroom to check for any sign of Brooke, however, she found none.

"She must still be out with Chris," Lucas said approaching Peyton where she stood in the middle of the room, her hand on her head in thought.

"That's what I'm worried about," Peyton answered him.

Lucas came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his head on her shoulder.

"She'll be fine," he said reassuringly. "After all, Mouth and Skills are watching her. They won't let anything bad happen to her, especially Mouth."

Peyton sighed before relaxing back into Lucas slightly.

"I guess you're right," she agreed closing her eyes as Lucas began kissing her neck seductively.

"Lucas…" Peyton began, before he turned her around to face him and began kissing her softly on the lips.

Peyton returned Lucas' kiss as he rubbed her back gently with his hand.

Soon the kiss had turned passionate, Peyton kissing Lucas deeply as she ran her hand through his hair.

After a moment, the pair of them parted their lips, Peyton staring into Lucas' eyes before kissing him deeply again.

Lucas picked Peyton up and moved her towards the bed, laying her down gently on top of the covers, his body close against hers.

Peyton grabbed for Lucas' tuxedo jacket, slowly removing it from around his body.

Lucas stopped for a moment, gazing lovingly into Peyton's eyes.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked her, breathless.

Peyton nodded before answering.

"Yeah," she replied quietly. "I love you Lucas, so much. I've wanted this for so long."

Lucas smiled at her before kissing her lightly on the forehead.

"Me too," he said before adding. "I love you too Peyton."

Peyton pulled Lucas' head down towards her lips and kissed him deeply before slowly beginning to undo the buttons on his shirt.

**(Honeygrove: Outside)**

Chris struggled to walk as Brooke began to lean more heavily on him for support. He hitched her up again as she began to slip from his grasp, wrapping her arm around his shoulders once more.

"Hey," Brooke said slurring and pointing her finger up at Chris. "Let me ask you something."

"Ok," Chris said sitting Brooke down on a nearby bench for a moment to give himself a rest. Chris took the seat next to her and looked up to meet her gaze.

Brooke closed her eyes and rested her head on Chris' shoulder, a sudden wave of tiredness coming over her.

"Brooke," he asked shaking her slightly. "Hey Brooke…"

Brooke opened her eyes again and looked at Chris.

"You can't sleep out here," Chris said wrapping his arm around her waist in order to help stand her up. "Come on, let's get you upstairs."

Just then Skills and Mouth approached where they were sitting on the bench still.

"I don't think so dawg," Skills said causing Brooke to turnaround and look at where him and Mouth were standing.

"Mouth! Skills!" Brooke called excitedly, trying to stand up and almost falling into a heap on the ground.

Luckily Skills caught her before she could go too far and pulled her in close to him, hitching her up into a more upright position.

"Here let me help you get her inside," Chris said approaching Brooke and Skills.

"It's ok," Mouth said jumping onto Brooke's other side and wrapping her other arm around his shoulders to support her. "We'll take her from here."

"Are you sure?" Chris asked, "I don't mind."

"I'm sure you don't," Skills said obviously not trusting Chris' motives.

Chris looked between Mouth and Skills for a moment before sighing and dropping his gaze onto Brooke who was smiling broadly.

"Fine," he said after a minute as he stepped towards Brooke and put a hand on the side of her face.

Brooke met his gaze and smiled at him.

"Are you going now?" she asked him. "I thought we were going to my room."

"These two are going to take you," Chris said nodding.

Chris knew that no one would care that his intentions with Brooke had been honourable. That he was only taking her to her room, so that she could sleep. He knew that no one would ever believe that and that Brooke would probably not remember this in the morning.

"You take care of yourself Brooke," Chris said removing his hand from the side of her face and smiling.

Chris threw one last glance to both Mouth and Skills before turning and walking away from them.

"Bye Chris!" Brooke called waving after him. "Thanks for tonight!"

Chris turned to look at Brooke one last time.

"Stop drinking!" he called back at her before turning on his heels and continuing on his way.

Brooke took a step forward and both Mouth and Skills had to leap to stop her from falling over.

"Hey guys," she slurred. "Have you had a good night?"

Mouth and Skills exchanged meaningful glances before making their way with Brooke towards the motel.

"Where are we going?" she asked when she realised what was happening.

"We're going to take you up to your room," Mouth said sadly as he saw the pain in Brooke's eyes.

"Ok," Brooke said shrugging as they continued towards the motel.

**(Honeygrove: Brooke's motel room)**

Lucas rolled over in the bed, so that he was lying on his side, his head resting on his elbow facing Peyton.

Peyton looked over at him and smiled before mirroring his pose.

Lucas reached up and ran a hand through her hair, brushing the side of her face gently.

"Hey," he said quietly after a moment before leaning forward and kissing her gently on the lips.

When he moved his head back away from her he looked into her eyes for a moment and smiled.

"Hey," Peyton said smiling broadly back at him.

"You look beautiful," he said leaning forward and kissing her again.

Just then, Peyton and Lucas heard the sound of the door rattling and quickly separated as they saw Skills and Mouth enter with Brooke being carried in between them.

"Damn," Skills said as Peyton pulled the covers up slightly.

Brooke looked at the pair of them a moment, not really comprehending what she had just walked in on, before putting her hand up to her mouth.

Mouth looked at Brooke concerned.

"Are you ok?" he asked her worriedly.

Brooke shook her head a moment.

"Uh uh," she said looking towards the bathroom. "I think…."

Before she could finish, Brooke made a haphazard lunge for the bathroom and threw up into the toilet causing the others present in the room to grimace.


	34. Chapter 34

**(Honeygrove: Brooke's motel room)**

Skills and Mouth had left quickly following Brooke's lunge into the bathroom, leaving Peyton and Lucas alone in the room.

Peyton had pulled on a white dressing gown before going to check that Brooke was ok, whilst Lucas got dressed.

When Peyton had returned from the bathroom, Lucas looked at her concerned.

"Is she ok?" he asked her seriously.

"Yeah, she'll feel better once she's gotten it out of her system." Peyton said walking over towards him and kissing him on the lips lightly.

"You should go and get some sleep, I'll look after her." Peyton said leading him towards the door, his hand in hers.

Peyton stood at the door to her motel room, her hand resting on the doorframe as she stood facing Lucas who was now on the other side.

The sound of Brooke being sick could be heard from the bathroom, and Peyton grimaced as she heard her.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay and help you with Brooke?" Lucas asked genuinely.

"Thanks," she said putting her hand on his. "But I'll think we'll be ok."

"Ok, well if you need anything come and get me." Lucas said leaning forward to kiss her on the lips gently.

"I will," she answered him smiling.

"Ok," he replied softly, brushing the side of her face with his hand. "Goodnight then."

"Night," Peyton said smiling once more and kissing him goodnight before he headed back towards his room.

Peyton closed the door behind her sighing. She leant against it momentarily before heading towards the bathroom and Brooke.

When she reached it, Peyton stood in the doorway, watching her friend as she lay on the bathroom floor.

Peyton nodded sadly and leant down beside Brooke, brushing the side of her face comfortingly as she did.

"I don't feel too good," Brooke, said when she felt Peyton's hand on her face.

"I'm not surprised," Peyton, answered her gently. "How much have you had to drink tonight?"

"I don't remember," Brooke moaned from her position on the floor.

"Let me help you to bed," Peyton said continuing to stroke Brooke's face. "You should get some sleep."

Brooke shook her head on the floor.

"I don't think I can move." She said.

"I'll help you," Peyton said smiling at her.

"Can't I stay in here." Brooke asked her pleadingly.

"Brooke you can't sleep on the floor." Peyton laughed. "You'll regret it in the morning."

"I don't care," Brooke said feeling sick again.

Peyton watched Brooke for a moment before relenting.

"Ok," she said finally, "but don't say that I didn't warn you."

"I won't," Brooke, answered her smiling weakly.

Peyton stood up from where she was kneeling and went into the motel room, appearing moments later with a blanket and pillow for Brooke.

Peyton placed the blanket over Brooke before positioning the pillow under her head.

Peyton rubbed Brooke's back soothingly with her hand.

"Are you feeling any better?" she asked her friend.

"Not really," Brooke said shaking slightly at Peyton's touch.

Peyton frowned from where she was kneeling.

"Hey Brooke," Peyton began tentatively after a moment's pause.

"Yeah" Brooke answered closing her eyes sleepily.

"Where are you living now that Rachel's gone?" Peyton asked.

She hadn't realised it before, but seeing Brooke lying here now and realising that she would be living alone next week, following her surgery she worried about her friend.

"Huh?" Brooke groaned quietly.

"Have you got somewhere to stay?" Peyton asked her.

"No," Brooke said understanding Peyton's words at last and answering dreamily. "But I'll sort something out…don't worry about me Peyton…. I'll be ok."

"I was thinking maybe you'd want to move in together." Peyton questioned her friend hesitantly.

"At your house?" Brooke asked opening her eyes slightly and looking at Peyton beside her.

Peyton stroked Brooke's face again.

"Actually," Peyton began. "Nathan mentioned earlier that him and Haley were moving in with Deb. So I thought that we could move into your old apartment."

"Really?" Brooke questioned Peyton sluggishly.

Peyton smiled as she watched Brooke.

"Yeah," she responded. "If you want to?"

Brooke smiled at Peyton.

"I'd like that," Brooke answered her quietly. "Best-friends and room mates again. The same as before…"

Peyton watched Brooke closely, thinking back to the conversation they'd shared under the bridge following Lucas and Haley's accident.

"I thought you said we couldn't be the same as before?" Peyton questioned her seriously.

"Well, I lied." Brooke said seeing Peyton's expression. "I didn't want to get too close to you again, not with everything going on…"

Brooke left the thought lingering between them for a moment.

"Truth is," Brooke said. "I hope we'll be better than before. That way we'll never hurt each other again."

Peyton smiled as Brooke closed her eyes sleepily once more.

"Night Brooke," Peyton said smiling to herself as she kissed Brooke lightly on the forehead.

Peyton stood slowly and walked over towards the bathroom door. She stood for a moment watching Brooke before finally stepping outside and into the motel room.

Brooke may not remember what she'd said to Peyton tonight, but she would. Brooke didn't know it, but her words had made Peyton happier than ever. The knowledge that Brooke thought they'd be ok made Peyton smile.

Peyton was still grinning broadly when she turned the bedroom light off and climb under the duvet of her bed, closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.


	35. Chapter 35

**(The song playing in the background is Brand New Day by Forty Foot Echo)**

_**Lucas' voiceover: Regret and forgiveness. Two emotions so different, yet at the same time so similar.**_

Peyton is awoken from sleep to the sound of banging from the bathroom. She pulls the covers back slowly and sleepily steps out of bed.

Peyton makes her way to the bathroom groggily, guided by the light emanating from the room.

When she reaches the doorway, Peyton freezes momentarily, her whole body turning cold and numb, terror etched in her every limb.

She is no longer sleepy, instead being pulled from her state of drowsiness by a sudden and heartbreaking fear at the sight of Brooke convulsing on the bathroom floor in front of her.

Suddenly Brooke stops seizing and Peyton lunges down towards her, gathering her friend up in her arms quickly. As she sits on the floor cradling her, tears stream from her eyes.

"Brooke?" Peyton says as she tries to wake her friend. "Brooke…"

Peyton clumsily places her hand over Brooke's neck trying to feel for a pulse…anything.

Through her fear, Peyton manages to locate the rhythmic beating of her heart and sighs.

She quickly places Brooke gently back onto the floor and runs out into the corridor, screaming for anyone to come and help her.

_**If you were to come to the end of your life and look back on the choices you made. Would you find something that you regretted, something you wished that you could take back?**_

A number of doors opened in the corridor and Lucas and Mouth both appeared from their room, sleep evident in their expressions.

The door next to Lucas' room opened and both Haley and Nathan appeared looking tired from having just woken up.

"Peyton?" Lucas questioned, rubbing at his eyes. "What's going on?"

"It's Brooke…" she said through tears.

Lucas' attention suddenly intensified as he asked Peyton "Is she ok?"

Peyton shook her head sadly.

"Someone please call an ambulance…" Peyton said sobbing as she turned to run back into her room.

Mouth ran back into his motel room to call for help, almost crashing into Skills as he did so. Lucas, Nathan and Haley, ran after Peyton.

**_What is regret, if not the inability to forgive yourself for the choices that you made._**

Lucas ran into the bathroom to find Peyton cradling a motionless Brooke in her lap, brushing her hair with her hand and talking to her pleadingly.

"Please don't do this to me Brooke," Peyton begged, her voice hoarse from crying. "Don't leave me like this... I'm not ready to lose you yet. Please...Brooke…"

Lucas knelt down next to Peyton and placed a shaky hand on her shoulder.

"Peyton…" he said to her sadly.

Peyton glanced up to meet his worried expression before glancing towards Haley, seeing her crying as she looked at Brooke lying in Peyton's arms.

_**Or wished you hadn't made.**_

Dan sat in his office a glass of whiskey in his hand, looking at a number of photographs. The first was of him and Karen in high school, the second and third of Lucas and Nathan, the fourth of Keith.

Dan threw the pictures onto the desk in front of him and took a sip of his drink.

_**Regret can eat a man up inside. Consume his life until it finally destroys him.**_

Peyton and the rest of the group stood in her motel room as the paramedics assessed Brooke in the bathroom.

After a moment, they wheeled Brooke out on a stretcher, an oxygen mask covering her face and an IV line in her arm.

Peyton watched as they wheeled her out of the motel room, tears falling down her cheeks.

Lucas stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her tightly.

A moment later another paramedic appeared from the bathroom carrying a first aid bag and approached Peyton.

Peyton stepped out of Lucas' reach towards the man.

"Is she going to be ok?" Peyton asked him worriedly.

The man looked at Peyton closely, understanding the anxiousness she must be feeling right now.

"I'm sorry...we don't know yet," he answered her quietly. " I promise we'll do everything that we can for her."

"What's wrong with her?" Peyton asked him as she tried to choke back more tears.

"I'm not sure," the paramedic said sadly. "I noticed a cut on her forehead. Did that happen today?"

Peyton shook her head sadly.

"No yesterday," she said wrapping her arms around her body at the sudden chill that had come over her.

"Has she been drinking today?" he asked her, already knowing the answer but wanting it confirmed.

Peyton nodded.

"Has she hit her head at all today?" he asked Peyton, hoping that Brooke hadn't.

"I don't think so," Peyton answered him, "I mean, I don't know... Why?"

"She did," Mouth said stepping forward a moment. "At the bar earlier she fell onto the floor. She could have hit her head then."

The paramedic looked at Mouth and sighed.

"We're going to take her to the local emergency room. There's room for one of you to come with us if you'd like," the paramedic said understandingly as he headed towards the door. "I'm afraid the rest of you will have to make your own way there."

"I'll come with you," Peyton said through sobs as she followed the paramedic out the door and left the others standing in silence in the motel room.

**_If you were to die tomorrow, what decisions in your life would you regret? Would you be able to forgive yourself, or will it be something that haunts you for the rest of your life?_**

Haley threw her arms around Nathan's neck and sobbed into his chest as he stroked her back soothingly.

Lucas watched this as he looked back into the bathroom, running his hand threw his hair, before turning back to look between Mouth and Skills who were both standing stunned in the middle of the room.

In the ambulance, Peyton sat in silence crying, her hand wrapped tightly around Brooke's as she lay motionless beside her.


	36. Chapter 36

Hey guys hoped you enjoyed this story. I know I kind of left it in a really bad place lol :o) but I am planning on continuing it in another sequel if you want me too.

Let me know what you think and thanks to everyone that has reviewed and read it.

B x


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